Chandra Release - June 20, 2006

Visual Description: 3C273

This image shows a multiwavelength view of quasar 3C 273 and its enormous jet, resembling a colorful, slightly bulbous worm stretching across a long black background. A kaleidoscope of colors represents the jet's assorted light waves. X-rays, detected by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, are the highest-energy light in the image and are seen at far left, colored in blue.  The black hole itself is well to the left of the image. Moving from left to right, the light diminishes in energy, and wavelengths increase in size. Visible light recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope is displayed in green, and infrared light caught by Spitzer is red. Areas where visible and infrared light overlap appear as yellow.