1. Tour of GRS 1915
QuicktimeMPEG We start with an optical and infrared image that shows the crowded area around the object known as GRS 1915+105, or GRS 1915 for short. Next is a close-up of the Chandra image of GRS 1915, which is located near the plane of the Milky Way. GRS 1915 is a so-called micro-quasar that contains a black hole about fourteen times the mass of the sun, which in turn is pulling material off a nearby companion star. With its high-energy transmission grating, Chandra has observed GRS 1915 eleven times since 1999. These studies reveal that a jet from the black hole in GRS 1915 may be periodically choked off when a hot wind is driven off the disk surrounding the black hole. Conversely, once the wind dies down, the jet can re-emerge. These results suggest that this type of black hole may have a mechanism for regulating the rate at which it grows.
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(X-ray (NASA/CXC/Harvard/J.Neilsen); Optical & IR (Palomar DSS2))
Related Chandra Images:
QuicktimeMPEG We start with an optical and infrared image that shows the crowded area around the object known as GRS 1915+105, or GRS 1915 for short. Next is a close-up of the Chandra image of GRS 1915, which is located near the plane of the Milky Way. GRS 1915 is a so-called micro-quasar that contains a black hole about fourteen times the mass of the sun, which in turn is pulling material off a nearby companion star. With its high-energy transmission grating, Chandra has observed GRS 1915 eleven times since 1999. These studies reveal that a jet from the black hole in GRS 1915 may be periodically choked off when a hot wind is driven off the disk surrounding the black hole. Conversely, once the wind dies down, the jet can re-emerge. These results suggest that this type of black hole may have a mechanism for regulating the rate at which it grows.
[Runtime: 1.03]
(X-ray (NASA/CXC/Harvard/J.Neilsen); Optical & IR (Palomar DSS2))
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: GRS 1915+105
2. Tour of M81
QuicktimeMPEG This image of the mammoth spiral galaxy M81, located about 12 million light years away, contains data from four different NASA satellites. First we see infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, followed by optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope. The Galex Satellite shows us what M81 looks like in ultraviolet emission. And finally, x-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory reveals what is going on at higher energies. At the center of M81, there is a supermassive black hole that is about 70 million times more massive than the sun. A new study involving Chandra and other telescopes helps astronomers better understand how this black hole is growing.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/Wisconsin/D.Pooley & CfA/A.Zezas; Optical: NASA/ESA/CfA/A.Zezas; UV: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CfA/J.Huchra et al.; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CfA)
Related Chandra Images:
QuicktimeMPEG This image of the mammoth spiral galaxy M81, located about 12 million light years away, contains data from four different NASA satellites. First we see infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, followed by optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope. The Galex Satellite shows us what M81 looks like in ultraviolet emission. And finally, x-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory reveals what is going on at higher energies. At the center of M81, there is a supermassive black hole that is about 70 million times more massive than the sun. A new study involving Chandra and other telescopes helps astronomers better understand how this black hole is growing.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/Wisconsin/D.Pooley & CfA/A.Zezas; Optical: NASA/ESA/CfA/A.Zezas; UV: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CfA/J.Huchra et al.; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CfA)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: M81
3. Comparing Different Black Holes
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This sequence shows four black holes from the Bootes field. The first two black holes are obscured by thick rings of gas. Because such a ring blocks certain types of radiation, these black holes are only are seen in X-ray (blue) and infrared (red) light. The last two black holes are not enshrouded by this ring of material, and, therefore, emit X-ray, infrared, and optical (green) radiation. These objects helps astronomers better understand the properties of these monster black holes.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Hickox et al.; Infrared: NASA/JPL/Caltech/P.Eisenhardt & D.Stern et al.; Optical: NOAO/B.Jannuzi & A.Dey et al.)
Related Chandra Images:
QuicktimeMPEG
This sequence shows four black holes from the Bootes field. The first two black holes are obscured by thick rings of gas. Because such a ring blocks certain types of radiation, these black holes are only are seen in X-ray (blue) and infrared (red) light. The last two black holes are not enshrouded by this ring of material, and, therefore, emit X-ray, infrared, and optical (green) radiation. These objects helps astronomers better understand the properties of these monster black holes.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Hickox et al.; Infrared: NASA/JPL/Caltech/P.Eisenhardt & D.Stern et al.; Optical: NOAO/B.Jannuzi & A.Dey et al.)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: XRF 060218
4. Illustrations of Black Hole Eclipse
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These artist's representations, which are not to scale, explain how a supermassive black hole and the hot gas disk around it are eclipsed. The first illustration shows how light from the bright disk surrounding the black hole can directly reach Chandra. The second illustration demonstrates how this light can be blocked by a dense cloud of gas, which causes only reflected light from the disk to reach Chandra.
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View Stills
(NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
Related Chandra Images:
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These artist's representations, which are not to scale, explain how a supermassive black hole and the hot gas disk around it are eclipsed. The first illustration shows how light from the bright disk surrounding the black hole can directly reach Chandra. The second illustration demonstrates how this light can be blocked by a dense cloud of gas, which causes only reflected light from the disk to reach Chandra.
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View Stills
(NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: NGC 1365
5. Images of M33 X-7
QuicktimeMPEG This sequence begins with a wide-field optical image from Kitt Peak of M33, a spiral galaxy about 3 million light years from Earth, and then zooms into a view from the Gemini telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Next, the view zooms into an even smaller field, from the Hubble Space Telescope, that includes M33 X-7, the most massive known black hole to be formed from the collapse of a star. The final image is a composite of the region around M33 X-7 that contains both the Chandra and Hubble data.
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(Kitt Peak: NOAO/AURA/NSF/T.A.Rector; Gemini: AURA/Gemini Obs./SDSU/J.Orosz et al.; HST: NASA/STScI/SDSU/J.Orosz et al.; Chandra: NASA/CXC/CfA/P.Plucinsky et al.)
QuicktimeMPEG This sequence begins with a wide-field optical image from Kitt Peak of M33, a spiral galaxy about 3 million light years from Earth, and then zooms into a view from the Gemini telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Next, the view zooms into an even smaller field, from the Hubble Space Telescope, that includes M33 X-7, the most massive known black hole to be formed from the collapse of a star. The final image is a composite of the region around M33 X-7 that contains both the Chandra and Hubble data.
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(Kitt Peak: NOAO/AURA/NSF/T.A.Rector; Gemini: AURA/Gemini Obs./SDSU/J.Orosz et al.; HST: NASA/STScI/SDSU/J.Orosz et al.; Chandra: NASA/CXC/CfA/P.Plucinsky et al.)
6. Animation of a Black Hole Pulling Matter from Companion Star
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This animation shows the orbit of the binary system GRO J1655-40. Gas is being pulled away from a normal star, shown in blue, and crashes onto a red disk that is spinning around a central black hole. The animation then zooms in to show a closer view of the disk. Some of the gas in the disk spirals inwards and falls onto the black hole, generating light along the way, and some of it is blown away in a wind.
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(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
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This animation shows the orbit of the binary system GRO J1655-40. Gas is being pulled away from a normal star, shown in blue, and crashes onto a red disk that is spinning around a central black hole. The animation then zooms in to show a closer view of the disk. Some of the gas in the disk spirals inwards and falls onto the black hole, generating light along the way, and some of it is blown away in a wind.
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(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
7. Animation of Black Hole in Elliptical Galaxy
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This artist's animation depicts a journey into the center of an elliptical galaxy. After traveling past stars in the outer part of the galaxy, the supermassive black hole located at the bright center of the galaxy becomes visible. This black hole is surrounded by hot gas shown in red and yellow, which acts as fuel for the black hole engine. Power generated by the engine flows away from the black hole via jets of high-energy particles.
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(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
Related Chandra Images:
QuicktimeMPEG
This artist's animation depicts a journey into the center of an elliptical galaxy. After traveling past stars in the outer part of the galaxy, the supermassive black hole located at the bright center of the galaxy becomes visible. This black hole is surrounded by hot gas shown in red and yellow, which acts as fuel for the black hole engine. Power generated by the engine flows away from the black hole via jets of high-energy particles.
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View Stills
(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: NGC 4696
8. Chandra Images of Elliptical Galaxies
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This set of Chandra images shows hot gas located in the nine different elliptical galaxies studied in this new work. Each of these galaxies shows evidence for cavities in the hot gas that were created by jets from the central black holes.
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(NASA/CXC/Stanford U./S.Allen et al.)
Related Chandra Images:
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This set of Chandra images shows hot gas located in the nine different elliptical galaxies studied in this new work. Each of these galaxies shows evidence for cavities in the hot gas that were created by jets from the central black holes.
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(NASA/CXC/Stanford U./S.Allen et al.)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: NGC 4696
9. Chandra, Infrared, and Radio Images of NGC 4696
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This sequence of images shows NGC 4696, the elliptical galaxy at the center of the Centaurus galaxy cluster. At the galaxy's center is a supermassive black hole, one of nine black holes studied recently using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. An infrared image, in green, reveals the stars in the elliptical galaxy. Next, the blue radio image shows high-energy jets generated by the black hole. Finally, Chandra's X-ray image in red traces hot gas located around the center of the galaxy. Enormous cavities in this gas were created by jets from the black hole.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/Stanford U./S.Allen et al.; IR: NASA/ESA/McMaster Univ./W.Harris; Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF/G.Taylor)
Related Chandra Images:
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This sequence of images shows NGC 4696, the elliptical galaxy at the center of the Centaurus galaxy cluster. At the galaxy's center is a supermassive black hole, one of nine black holes studied recently using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. An infrared image, in green, reveals the stars in the elliptical galaxy. Next, the blue radio image shows high-energy jets generated by the black hole. Finally, Chandra's X-ray image in red traces hot gas located around the center of the galaxy. Enormous cavities in this gas were created by jets from the black hole.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/Stanford U./S.Allen et al.; IR: NASA/ESA/McMaster Univ./W.Harris; Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF/G.Taylor)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: NGC 4696
10. Sequence of Black Hole Illustrations
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This set of Chandra images shows hot gas located in the nine different elliptical galaxies studied in this new work. Each of these galaxies shows evidence for cavities in the hot gas that were created by jets from the central black holes.
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View Stills
(NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
QuicktimeMPEG
This set of Chandra images shows hot gas located in the nine different elliptical galaxies studied in this new work. Each of these galaxies shows evidence for cavities in the hot gas that were created by jets from the central black holes.
[Runtime: 0:32]
View Stills
(NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
Revised: October 23, 2008