Chandra Release - January 12, 2011

Visual Description: GRS 1915+105

The image features the black hole GRS 1915+105 in three parts.  The main image depicts a cloudy pink, purple and blue nebula, surrounded by dimmer shades of red, orange, and green and painted with dozens of stars. The nebula's shape is irregular, with some areas appearing brighter or darker than others.  This optical and infrared image from the Digitized Sky Survey shows the crowded field around GRS 1915. Towards the center of the nebula, there is a tiny purple spot, which represents the black hole in X-ray light.   The top-left inset shows a close-up of the Chandra image of GRS 1915.  At bottom-right is an inset that includes a graph that shows the remarkable "heartbeats" in the amount of X-ray light seen from this system. Using Chandra and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), astronomers have discovered what drives these heartbeats and given new insight into the ways that black holes can regulate their intake and severely curtail their growth.