Chandra Finds Abundance of Ultraluminous X-ray Sources

Chandra_81_1024

chandra_81 June 5th, 2001

Credit: NASA/SAO/CXC/G.Fabbiano et al.

Chandra's image of the central regions of The Antennae where intense star formation is occurring, shows dozens of bright point-like "ultraluminous" X-ray sources. These sources, which emit ten to several hundred times more X-ray power than similar sources in our galaxy, are thought to be either massive black holes, or black holes that are beaming energy toward Earth. The colors of the sources indicate the predominant energies of their X-rays, with red representing the lowest, green intermediate, and yellow and white the highest.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0120true/

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
Antennae

Distance

Universescale2
60,000,000 light years
Chandra_81_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 12h 1m 52.6s
DEC = -18° 52’ 53.7”
Orientation
North is 0.1° CCW
Field of View
3.9 x 3.9 arcminutes
Constellation
Corvus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Pseudocolor Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Pseudocolor
Chandra_81_1280
×
ID
81
Subject Category
Subject Name
Antennae
Credits
NASA/SAO/CXC/G.Fabbiano et al.
Release Date
2001-06-05
Lightyears
60,000,000
Redshift
60,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0120true/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra
Instrument
ACIS
Color Assignment
Pseudocolor
Band
X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray
Central Wavelength
0.8267
Start Time
1999-12-01T05:26:49
Integration Time
72241
Dataset ID
315
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
180.4689859, -18.8815781
Reference Dimension
2100.0, 2100.0
Reference Pixel
1051.0, 1051.0
Scale
3.05744e-05, 3.0574444e-05
Rotation
0.08
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 Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
0120true_xray.tif
Metadata Date
2011-05-11T16:11:50-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
60,000,000 light years

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