Hidden Black Holes

Spitzer_ssc2004-10c_1024

spitzer_ssc2004-10c June 1st, 2004

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Yale

Astronomers have probed the deep sky with NASA's three Great Observatories for hidden black holes and come to the conclusion that most black holes cannot be seen in visible images. The image on the left from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows 1/200 of the full field of sky known as the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey, or GOODS. It highlights three X-ray sources (circled) and many other galaxies. The image on the right is made up of data from Hubble and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and shows the same region. The two "hard" X-ray sources (sources detected only at the shortest X-ray wavelengths and indicated here with yellow circles) are very faint in the visible but much more luminous in the infrared. This data suggests that the X-ray sources are black holes hidden behind a screen of dust.

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1248-ssc2004-10c-Hidden-Black-Holes

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey
Subject - Distant Universe
Star > Evolutionary Stage > Black Hole

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Spitzer (IRAC) Infrared -
Hubble Optical -
Multiple image collage
Spitzer_ssc2004-10c_1280
×
ID
ssc2004-10c
Subject Category
D.3.1.10.  
Subject Name
Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Yale
Release Date
2004-06-01
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1248-ssc2004-10c-Hidden-Black-Holes
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Spitzer, Hubble
Instrument
IRAC, -
Color Assignment
Band
Infrared, Optical
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
M
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Spitzer Space Telescope
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/info/18-Image-Use-Policy
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2004-10c.tif
Metadata Date
2012-10-11
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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