Chandra Release - November 18, 2019

Visual Description: Phoenix Cluster

The image features X-ray, optical and radio data of the Phoenix Cluster, a galaxy cluster with a supermassive black hole. The cluster is dominated by purple hues with small pops of red and light blue near the center and dotted with fuzzy pale gold sources throughout. The overall shape resembles a partial distorted spiral shell, with the dots looking like lit up fireflies around it. This image was made by combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope, and the NSF's Karl Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). The composite image includes data from each telescope. X-rays from Chandra depict hot gas in purple and radio emission from the VLA features jets in red. Optical light data from Hubble show galaxies (colored in yellow), and filaments of cooler gas where stars are forming (in light blue).