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Q&A: Galaxies, Galaxy Clusters, AGN, and Quasars
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Q:
I was curious whether the X-ray telescope's designers anticipated
its ability to capture images of sound waves (as in Perseus) and if the
scientists were looking for these results when they requested the observation
time?
A:
The designers of Chandra certainly knew that they would find objects
and phenomena that they would not be able to even imagine as they were
polishing the telescope mirrors. We don't think that anyone knew that
these huge pressure waves would be seen or that they would be a way of
transferring large quantities of energy in the universe. This was a surprise
for everyone, including the British scientists who are analyzing this
data.
The scientists did want to know why the center of the Perseus galaxy cluster
was much cooler than it should be, but the potential answer, that huge
pressure fronts (sound waves) carry the energy away, was a surprise. For
more information, see the Chandra press release: http://chandra.harvard.edu/press/press_release.html.
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