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Animations & Video
Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies
 |  | Animation of Spiral Galaxy
This animation depicts a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way where hot X-ray-emitting gas emanates from regions of recent star formation in the galaxy's disk. |
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Images of M33 X-7
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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.)
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Optical and X-ray Images of NGC 1365
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Beginning with the optical image of NGC 1365, the view then changes to reveal Chandra's image of the central region. The bright source in the middle of the X-ray image is generated by a disk of gas about to fall into a supermassive black hole. When a dense cloud within NGC 1365 passed in front of the black hole and disk, high-energy X-rays from the disk were blocked. This allowed astronomers to measure the size of the disk.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/INAF/Risaliti; Optical: ESO/VLT)
Related Chandra Images:
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Tour of M51
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Hubble's image of M51, also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, shows the majestic spiral arms that are actually long lanes of stars and gas laced with dust. The infrared image from Spitzer also reveals stars and the glow from clouds of interstellar dust. The dust consists mainly of a variety of carbon-based organic molecules. An image from the GALEX
mission gives the view of M51 in ultraviolet light. Chandra detects a large number of point-like X-ray sources due to black holes and neutron stars in binary star systems. When combined, all of these observatories paint a more complete picture of the famous galaxy.
[Runtime: 0:49]
(X-ray (NASA/CXC/Wesleyan Univ./R. Kilgard); UV (NASA/JPL-Caltech); Optical (NASA/ESA/S. Beckwith & The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)); IR (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona/R. Kennicutt))
Related Chandra Images:
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Tour of M82
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When seen in visible light from the Hubble Space Telescope, M82 looks like an ordinary spiral galaxy. However, looking at it through the Spitzer Space Telescope in infrared radiation, we see a startlingly different picture with material being blasted from the galaxy’s disk. X-ray data from Chandra reveal scorching gas that has been heated to millions of degrees by this violent outburst. The composite image of all of these different data reveals the true nature of this galaxy.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/JHU/D.Strickland; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA/The Hubble Heritage Team; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of AZ/C. Engelbracht)
Related Chandra Images:
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Tour of Sombrero
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We begin with the Hubble Space Telescope’s optical light view of the Sombrero galaxy, also known as M104. Sombrerois one of the largest galaxies in the nearby Virgo cluster, about 28 million light years from Earth. Some of the prominent features of the Sombrero, which are highlighted in Hubble’s image, include its large bulge of stars in the center and the thick band of dust that appears as the dark lane across the galaxy’s mid-section. Like the Milky Way, Sombrero is a spiral galaxy. However, we see Sombrero edge-on from our vantage point from Earth, rather than the face-down perspective that is more familiar. A Great Observatories view of the same Sombrero reveals different aspects of the galaxy. The X-ray image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory shows hot gas in the galaxy that appears as a diffuse glow that extends over 60,000 light years from the Sombrero’s center. Also, Chandra detects many point-like sources of X-ray emission that are mostly stars within Sombrero but some are quasars in the distant background. The rim of dust that blocks the starlight in the Hubble image glows brightly in the Spitzer Space Telescope’s infrared image. Also, the central bulge of stars strongly emits infrared emission detected by Spitzer.
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(Credit: X-ray: NASA/UMass/Q.D.Wang et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI/AURA/Hubble Heritage; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. AZ/R.Kennicutt/SINGS Team)
Related Chandra Images:
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Gallery of X-ray and Optical Images of Elliptical Galaxies
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A sample from the new Chandra study shows how the X-ray emission (blue and white) is much different from the optical images, thus revealing unsuspected turmoil in these old, elliptical galaxies. Astronomers believe that massive clouds of hot gas in these galaxies have been stirred up by intermittent explosive activity from centrally located supermassive black holes.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/U. Ohio/T.Statler & S.Diehl; Optical: DSS TRT)
Related Chandra Images:
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M82 - Great Observatories (Annotated)
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Images from three of NASA's Great Observatories were combined to create a spectacular, multiwavelength view of the starburst galaxy M82. Chandra's X-ray image reveals gas heated to millions of degrees by the violent outflow, which can be traced back to vigorous star formation in the central regions of the galaxy. The burst of star formation is thought to have been initiated by a close encounter with a large nearby galaxy, M81, about 100 million years ago. The Spitzer Space Telescope infrared image shows a remarkably different picture, one where cool gas and dust are being ejected out of the galaxy's disk. Optical light from stars in the Hubble Space Telescope image shows the disk of the modest-sized, apparently normal galaxy. Another Hubble observation designed to image 10,000 degree Celsius hydrogen gas also reveals matter blasting out of the galaxy.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/JHU/D.Strickland; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA/The Hubble Heritage Team; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of AZ/C. Engelbracht)
Related Chandra Images:
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M82 - Great Observatories (Not Annotated)
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Images from three of NASA's Great Observatories were combined to create a spectacular, multiwavelength view of the starburst galaxy M82. Chandra's X-ray image reveals gas heated to millions of degrees by the violent outflow, which can be traced back to vigorous star formation in the central regions of the galaxy. The burst of star formation is thought to have been initiated by a close encounter with a large nearby galaxy, M81, about 100 million years ago. The Spitzer Space Telescope infrared image shows a remarkably different picture, one where cool gas and dust are being ejected out of the galaxy's disk. Optical light from stars in the Hubble Space Telescope image shows the disk of the modest-sized, apparently normal galaxy. Another Hubble observation designed to image 10,000 degree Celsius hydrogen gas also reveals matter blasting out of the galaxy.
[Runtime: 0:21]
(X-ray: NASA/CXC/JHU/D.Strickland; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA/The Hubble Heritage Team; IR: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of AZ/C. Engelbracht)
Related Chandra Images:
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Sequence of Andromeda Galaxy (M31) Images
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Beginning with a wide-field optical view, this sequence of Andromeda Galaxy images moves into an X-ray look of the central region. In this Chandra image, red represents lower energy, green as medium energy, and finally blue as the highest energy X-rays that Chandra detects. This sequence also shows a composite of X-ray and infrared light, before returning to the Chandra-only view.
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(X-ray: NASA/UMass/Z.Li & Q.D.Wang; Optical: NOAO/AURA/NSF/T.A.Rector & B.A.Wolpa; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Related Chandra Images:
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NOAO Optical and Chandra X-ray Sequence of M74
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This sequence starts with an optical image of the galaxy M74 (a.k.a. NGC 628), which is about 32 million light years from Earth in the constellation Pisces. The view then adds Chandra's X-ray image and zooms onto one source in the galaxy's spiral arm. Astronomers believe this object, named CXOU J013651.1+154547, is a medium-size black hole, which would bridge the size gap between other known black holes.
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(X-ray: NASA/CXC/U. of Michigan/J.Liu et al.; Optical: NOAO/AURA/NSF/T.Boroson)
Related Chandra Images:
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