1. Sequence of Chandra Images of Galactic Center & Sgr A*
QuicktimeMPEG This sequence begins with a 400 by 900 light-year mosaic of several Chandra images of the central region of our Galaxy that reveals hundreds of white dwarf stars, neutron stars, and black holes bathed in an incandescent fog of multimillion-degree gas. The mosaic then zooms into a large region around the supermassive black hole at our Galaxy's center, a.k.a. Sagittarius A* or Sgr A*. Marked in this field around Sgr A* are two newly discovered large lobes of multimillion-degree gas that extend for dozens of light years on either side of the black hole. The final Chandra image in this sequence is a close-up of the location of the supermassive black hole Sgr A* and an X-ray jet. This suspected jet is 1.5 light years in length and is due to high-energy particles ejected from the vicinity of the black hole.
[Runtime: 0:22]
(Galactic Center (Survey): NASA/UMass/D.Wang et al., Sgr A* (3-color & close-up): NASA/CXC/MIT/F.K.Baganoff et al.)
Related Chandra Images:
QuicktimeMPEG This sequence begins with a 400 by 900 light-year mosaic of several Chandra images of the central region of our Galaxy that reveals hundreds of white dwarf stars, neutron stars, and black holes bathed in an incandescent fog of multimillion-degree gas. The mosaic then zooms into a large region around the supermassive black hole at our Galaxy's center, a.k.a. Sagittarius A* or Sgr A*. Marked in this field around Sgr A* are two newly discovered large lobes of multimillion-degree gas that extend for dozens of light years on either side of the black hole. The final Chandra image in this sequence is a close-up of the location of the supermassive black hole Sgr A* and an X-ray jet. This suspected jet is 1.5 light years in length and is due to high-energy particles ejected from the vicinity of the black hole.
[Runtime: 0:22]
(Galactic Center (Survey): NASA/UMass/D.Wang et al., Sgr A* (3-color & close-up): NASA/CXC/MIT/F.K.Baganoff et al.)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: Sagittarius A*
2. Black Hole Animation
QuicktimeMPEG
This animation illustrates the activity surrounding a black hole. While the matter that has passed the black hole's "event horizon" can't be seen, material swirling outside this threshold is accelerated to millions of degrees and radiates in X-rays. At the end of the animation, the black hole is shown shrouded in a cloud of gas and dust, obscuring it from most angles at wavelengths other than the X-rays picked up by the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
[Runtime: 0:27]
View Stills
(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
QuicktimeMPEG
This animation illustrates the activity surrounding a black hole. While the matter that has passed the black hole's "event horizon" can't be seen, material swirling outside this threshold is accelerated to millions of degrees and radiates in X-rays. At the end of the animation, the black hole is shown shrouded in a cloud of gas and dust, obscuring it from most angles at wavelengths other than the X-rays picked up by the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
[Runtime: 0:27]
View Stills
(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
3. Scenario Dismissed by Chandra Results
QuicktimeMPEG
This sequence of artist's renderings shows the scenario ruled out by the latest Chandra results. In this model, a cluster with both low (red) and high (blue) mass stars is drawn toward the black hole. Eventually, the strong gravitational forces would rip the cluster apart, sending its constituent stars into orbit around the black hole.
[Runtime: 0:10]
View Stills
(Illustrations: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
Related Chandra Images:
QuicktimeMPEG
This sequence of artist's renderings shows the scenario ruled out by the latest Chandra results. In this model, a cluster with both low (red) and high (blue) mass stars is drawn toward the black hole. Eventually, the strong gravitational forces would rip the cluster apart, sending its constituent stars into orbit around the black hole.
[Runtime: 0:10]
View Stills
(Illustrations: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: Sagittarius A*
4. Animation of Stars Forming Around Black Hole
QuicktimeMPEG
This animation shows a disk of red and yellow gas around a supermassive black hole. As the view pulls back, the formation of stars in the outer regions of the disk is seen. These massive stars form when the gas becomes unstable, despite the black hole's enormous gravitational influence, and collapses inwards.
[Runtime: 0:23]
View Stills
(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
Related Chandra Images:
QuicktimeMPEG
This animation shows a disk of red and yellow gas around a supermassive black hole. As the view pulls back, the formation of stars in the outer regions of the disk is seen. These massive stars form when the gas becomes unstable, despite the black hole's enormous gravitational influence, and collapses inwards.
[Runtime: 0:23]
View Stills
(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: Sagittarius A*
Revised: April 17, 2013