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More Images of NGC 6240
Contents:
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Optical & X-ray Comparison of NGC
6240
The image on the left shows the galaxy NGC 6240 in
optical wavelengths taken by the Wide-Field Planetary
Camera 2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. The Chandra
image on the right covers the same field of view of the
galaxy's central region. The colors in the X-ray image
show the intensity of the low (red), medium (green) and
high (blue) energy X-rays. For the first time, Chandra
has clearly revealed two supermassive black holes in
the core of the galaxy.
Scale: Each panel is .35 x .3
arcmin.
(Credit: X-ray:
NASA/CXC/MPE/S.Komossa et al.; Optical:
NASA/STScI/R.P.van der Marel & J.Gerssen)
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Illustration of Black Hole with Accretion
Disk and Torus
An artist's conception shows a black hole surrounded
by a disk of hot gas, and a large doughnut or torus of
cooler gas and dust. The light blue ring on the back of
the torus is due to the fluorescence of iron atoms
excited by X-rays from the hot gas disk.
(Illustration:
CXC/M.Weiss)
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X-ray Spectrum of NGC 6240's Southern
Nucleus
The distribution of X-rays with energy, or spectrum,
of the southern nucleus shows distinctive features
characteristic of gas around a supermassive black hole.
These features are the broad plateau (extending from
the middle toward the right of the spectrum) produced
by hot gas in the vicinity of the black hole, and the
sharp peak (on the right side) due to the fluorescence
of iron atoms in cool gas excited by X-rays from near
the black hole. The broad peaks on the left portion of
the spectrum are due to multimillion degree gas in the
galaxy that is projected onto the nucleus. The solid
blue line represents the theoretical model that best
fits the data (pink dots).
(Credit: NASA/CXC/MPE/S.Komossa
et al.)
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3-color, zoom in
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Full-Field
Chandra Image of NGC 6240 (3-color)
Chandra has revealed that the nucleus of an
extraordinarily bright galaxy contains not one, but two
active giant black holes. In this full-field image, the
colors show the intensity of the low (red), medium
(green) and high (blue) energy X-rays
Scale: Full Field: .7 x .5 arcmin (=
40 x 30 arcsec); Zoom In: Image is .35 x .3
arcmin.
(Credit: NASA/CXC/S.Komossa et
al.)
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(high-energy)
Jpeg, Tiff, PS
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(medium-energy)
Jpeg, Tiff, PS
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(low-energy)
Jpeg, Tiff, PS
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Chandra
Image of NGC 6240 (High, Low & Medium
Energy)
Chandra has revealed that the nucleus of an
extraordinarily bright galaxy contains not one, but two
active giant black holes. The first image shows only
the highest-energy X-rays (5-8 keV) detected by
Chandra, which come from gas around the two black holes
in the center of the galaxy. The second image shows the
medium-energy X-rays (1.5-5keV) and the third image
shows the low-energy X-rays (0.5-1.5keV) detected by
Chandra.
Scale: Image is .35 x .3
arcmin.
(Credit: NASA/CXC/MPE/S.Komossa
et al.)
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Composite of Optical & X-ray
Images
This image shows a composite of the Optical and X-ray
data of the galaxy NGC 6240. The optical data (in
yellow and blue) were taken by the Wide-Field Planetary
Camera 2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. The Chandra
data covers the same field of view of the galaxy's
central region. The colors in the X-ray image show the
intensity of the low (red), medium (green) and high
(blue) energy X-rays. For the first time, Chandra has
clearly revealed two supermassive black holes in the
core of the galaxy.
Scale: Image is .35 x .3
arcmin.
(Credit: X-ray:
NASA/CXC/MPE/S.Komossa et al.; Optical:
NASA/STScI/R.P.van der Marel & J.Gerssen)
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Composite
of Optical & High Energy X-ray Images
This image shows a composite of the Optical and X-ray
data of the galaxy NGC 6240. The optical data (in
yellow, red and green) were taken by the Wide-Field
Planetary Camera 2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Chandra data covers the same field of view of the
galaxy's central region. The X-ray image (blue) shows
the high X-rays from the two supermassive black holes
in the center of the galaxy.
Scale: Image is .35 x .3
arcmin.
(Credit: X-ray:
NASA/CXC/MPE/S.Komossa et al.; Optical:
NASA/STScI/R.P.van der Marel & J.Gerssen)
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Optical Image of NGC 6240
This image shows the central region of the galaxy NGC
6240 in optical wavelengths taken by the Wide-Field
Planetary Camera 2 aboard the Hubble Space
Telescope.
(Credit: NASA/STScI/R.P.van der
Marel & J.Gerssen)
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Wide Field Optical Image of NGC
6240
This image shows the wide field view of the galaxy NGC
6240 in optical wavelengths taken by the Wide-Field
Planetary Camera 2 aboard the Hubble Space
Telescope.
(Credit: NASA/STScI/R.P.van der
Marel & J.Gerssen)
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Chandra X-ray Image with Scale Bar
Scale bar = 5.4 arcsec
(Credit: NASA/CXC/MPE/S.Komossa et al.) |
Return to NGC 6240
(19 Nov 02)
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