1. Animation of Centaurus A Arcs
QuicktimeMPEG This animation begins with the location of Centaurus A on the Chandra x-ray sky map. Next, it dissolves from the Chandra X-ray image to the DSS optical to the two NRAO radio images. The final frame fades in the full composite image with x-ray, optical and radio data combined.
[Runtime: 0:31]
(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
Related Chandra Images:
QuicktimeMPEG This animation begins with the location of Centaurus A on the Chandra x-ray sky map. Next, it dissolves from the Chandra X-ray image to the DSS optical to the two NRAO radio images. The final frame fades in the full composite image with x-ray, optical and radio data combined.
[Runtime: 0:31]
(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: Centaurus A Arcs
2. Animation of How Supermassive Black Holes Affect the Formation of Massive Galaxies
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This animation begins by looking at the exterior of an elliptical galaxy. It then zooms into the region near the galaxy's massive central black hole. The sequence then shows how powerful jets of high-energy particles emanate from the vicinity of the black hole. These jets heat gas around the galaxy and stop the infall of matter into the galaxy, thereby limiting the galaxy's growth. This is what astronomers believe is happening in the cases of 4C41.17 and 3C294.
[Runtime: 0:22]
View Stills
(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
Related Chandra Images:
QuicktimeMPEG
This animation begins by looking at the exterior of an elliptical galaxy. It then zooms into the region near the galaxy's massive central black hole. The sequence then shows how powerful jets of high-energy particles emanate from the vicinity of the black hole. These jets heat gas around the galaxy and stop the infall of matter into the galaxy, thereby limiting the galaxy's growth. This is what astronomers believe is happening in the cases of 4C41.17 and 3C294.
[Runtime: 0:22]
View Stills
(NASA/CXC/A.Hobart)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: 4C41.17
3. Black Hole Animation
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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)
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.
[Runtime: 0:15]
View Stills
(NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
Related Chandra Images:
QuicktimeMPEG
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.
[Runtime: 0:15]
View Stills
(NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: NGC 1365
5. Optical and X-ray Images of NGC 1365
QuicktimeMPEG 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.
[Runtime: 0:10]
(X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/INAF/Risaliti; Optical: ESO/VLT)
Related Chandra Images:
QuicktimeMPEG 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.
[Runtime: 0:10]
(X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/INAF/Risaliti; Optical: ESO/VLT)
Related Chandra Images:
- Photo Album: NGC 1365
Revised: December 08, 2011