Chandra Release - November 9, 2016

Visual Description: Markarian 1018

This two-panel graphic features images of the active galaxy Markarian 1018. The first component on the left is an optical image of a galaxy, which appears as a large, bright, circular object in the center of the image with wispy arm-like structures at the top and across its front, like cotton candy as it's being formed into a ball. The second component is an X-ray close-up of the galaxy, which appears as a smaller, compact object to the right. In terms of texture, the X-ray image has a smoother appearance at its core with slight smudginess around its edges, while the optical image has a grainy texture with many speckles of light due to the presence of stars and other objects within the galaxy. The colors of the X-ray image are predominantly bright purple and white, with shades of gray, pale blue and red for the optical image. This image shows data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (right) and the Very Large Telescope (left) of Markarian 1018. Data from these and other telescopes suggest that the supermassive black hole at the center of this galaxy is no longer being fed enough fuel to make its surroundings shine brightly.