Chandra Image of Perseus Cluster with Overlay of Low Pressure Region
Special processing designed to bring out low and high pressure regions in the multimillion degree gas in the Perseus cluster has revealed huge low pressure regions (shown in purple in the accompanying image overlay). These regions appear as expanding plumes that extend outward 300,000 light years from the supermassive black hole in NGC 1275, the giant central galaxy in the cluster. The gas pressure is assumed to be low in the plumes because unseen bubbles of high-energy particles have pushed the gas aside. The plumes are evidence of explosive activity near the supermassive black hole.
Scale: Image is 284 arcsec across
(Credit: NASA/CXC/IoA/J.Sanders et al.)