Chandra Release - June 30, 2010

Visual Description: CID-42

The image is an X-ray and optical composite depicting a distant cluster of galaxies. The central part of the image features a bright blue object that stands out from the other galaxies and sources dotted around it.  In the center of that source, tucked inside its galaxy, is a recoiling black hole called CID-42.  The recoiling black hole and its host galaxy is surrounded by other galaxies, which are visible in shades of golden brown and cream. In this composite, the X-ray source detected by Chandra is colored blue, while the Hubble data is seen in the brown-gold tones. Two tiny bright white sources near the center of the image look like a little set of eyes and are seen in the optical data from Hubble. The center galaxy's long tail arching to the upper left suggests that a merger between galaxies has occurred relatively recently, only a few million years earlier.