NASA's Chandra Suggests Black Holes Gorging at Excessive Rates

Chandra_595_1024

chandra_595 April 30th, 2015

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State/B.Luo et al.; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss

A new study of 51 distant quasars using Chandra reveals a population of black holes that consume excessive amounts of matter. The artist's illustration shows how a thick, donut-shaped disk around the black hole blocks a substantial amount of the X-rays that would otherwise escape the system. The important implication of these "thick-disk" quasars is that they may harbor black holes growing at an extraordinarily rapid rate. Three of the quasars in the study are included as Chandra images below the illustration.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2015/3quasars/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

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Image Details

Image Type
Collage
Object Name
152156.48+520238.5
Subject - Distant Universe
Galaxy > Activity > AGN > Quasar

Distance

Universescale3
10,750,000,000 light years

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 15h 21m 56.0s
DEC = 52° 2’ 38.0”
Constellation
Bootes

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Magenta Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Magenta
Chandra_595_1280
×
ID
595
Subject Category
D.5.3.2.1  
Subject Name
152156.48+520238.5
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State/B.Luo et al.; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
Release Date
2015-04-30
Lightyears
10,750,000,000
Redshift
2.238
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2015/3quasars/
Type
Collage
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Magenta
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
230.4833, 52.0439
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
Position
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
3quasars.tif
Metadata Date
2015-04-30T14:47:33-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Universescalefull
10,750,000,000 light years

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