Narrator (Megan Watzke, CXC) This composite image shows the nearby galaxy NGC 7793 that contains a powerful microquasar in its outskirts. Data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory is colored red, green and blue, while optical data from the Very Large Telescope is light blue, and optical emission by hydrogen, known as "H-alpha", is colored gold. A microquasar is a system in which a stellar-mass black hole is being fed by a companion star. Gas swirling toward the black hole forms a disk around it. Twisted magnetic fields in the disk generate strong electromagnetic forces that propel some of the gas away from the disk at high speeds in two separate jets. These create a huge bubble of hot gas about 1,000 light years across.
Revised: July 26, 2010