Quasisoft Sources - Enigmatic X-ray Sources Point to Possible New Black Hole Population

Chandra_72_1024

chandra_72 March 1st, 2004

Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/R.DiStefano et al.

This Chandra image of M101 shows numerous "quasisoft" X-ray sources (marked with green diamonds) that may represent a new class of objects. The quasisoft sources have temperatures in the range of one to four million degrees Celsius, significantly less than the ten to a hundred million degree gas associated with "hard" X-ray sources, such as neutron stars or stellar-mass black holes. The power output of quasisoft sources is comparable to or greater than that of neutron stars or stellar-mass black holes fueled by the infall of matter from companion stars. It not known how quasisoft sources are produced; one possibility is that they are due to hot gas swirling around intermediate-mass black holes with masses a hundred or more times greater than the mass of the Sun.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/m101/

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

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

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
M101
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Activity > Normal

Distance

Universescale2
22,000,000 light years
Chandra_72_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 14h 3m 21.4s
DEC = 54° 20’ 42.7”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
11.9 x 12.0 arcminutes
Constellation
Ursa Major

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Soft X-ray) 1.91 nm
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Medium X-ray) 830.0 pm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Hard X-ray) 250.0 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Chandra_72_1280
×
ID
72
Subject Category
C.5.3.1  
Subject Name
M101
Credits
NASA/CXC/SAO/R.DiStefano et al.
Release Date
2004-03-01
Lightyears
22,000,000
Redshift
22,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2004/m101/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Chandra, Chandra
Instrument
ACIS, ACIS, ACIS
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray
Bandpass
Soft X-ray, Medium X-ray, Hard X-ray
Central Wavelength
1.91, 0.83, 0.25
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
934
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
210.8391014, 54.3451926
Reference Dimension
2400.0, 2405.0
Reference Pixel
1201.0, 1203.5
Scale
8.29652e-05, 8.2965239e-05
Rotation
0.00
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
WCS retrieved using CXCs PinpointWCS
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
m101_xray.tif
Metadata Date
2012-03-21T14:03:34-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
22,000,000 light years

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