Chandra Release - May 15, 2013

Visual Description: 4C+29.30

 This image contains X-ray, optical, and radio data of the galaxy named 4c2930. The galaxy appears golden, in the center of the image, surrounded by two streaks and a few blobs of bright blue and purple light.  The shape resembles a brightly bejeweled handmirror with a purple and blue handle, a gold encrusted mirror case, and blue and purple jewels peaking off the top in the center of the mirror case.   This composite image of the galaxy illustrates how the intense gravity of a supermassive black hole can be tapped to generate immense power. The image contains X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (colored in blue), optical light obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (gold) and radio waves from the NSF's Very Large Array (purple-pink).  The radio emission comes from two jets of particles that are speeding at millions of miles per hour away from a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. The ends of the jets show larger areas of radio emission located outside the galaxy. 

The X-ray data traces the location of hot gas. Bright X-rays in the center of the image mark a pool of million-degree gas around the black hole.