The Flickr Supermassiveblackhole Image Generatr

NGC 2685 is an object of great scientific interest, because polar-ring galaxies are very rare galaxies. A polar-ring galaxy is a type of galaxy with an outer ring of gas and stars that rotates over the poles of the galaxy. They are thought to form when two galaxies gravitationally interact with each other.

Also known as the “Helix Galaxy”, it is located about 48 million light years distant in the constellation Ursa Major. It also falls in the classification of Seyfert galaxies.

Seyfert galaxies account for about 10% of all galaxies and are some of the most intensely studied objects in astronomy, as they are thought to be powered by the same phenomena that occur in quasars, although they are closer and less luminous than quasars. These galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centers which are surrounded by accretion discs of in-falling material.

Capture info:
Location: SkyPi Remote Observatory, Pie Town NM US
Telescope: Officina Stellare RiDK 400
Camera: QHY600M
Mount: Paramount MEII
Data: LRGB 12.5, 9, 8, 8.5 hrs respectively
Processing: Pixinsight

M 106
science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night...

This image gives us a close-up view of the galaxy NGC 4945’s active core — clouds of dust and gas obscuring its supermassive black hole. We can also see a clear shot of the great galactic winds flowing out from this black hole, shown here in the bright, cone-shaped jets of material at the centre of the picture. These observations, taken with the MUSE instrument at ESO's Very Large Telescope, are helping astronomers understand how these winds move and shape their host galaxies.

Credit: ESO/C. Marconcini et al.

This Picture of the Week shows a stunning spiral galaxy known as NGC 4945. This little corner of space, near the constellation of Centaurus and over 12 million light-years away, may seem peaceful at first — but NGC 4945 is locked in a violent struggle.

At the very centre of nearly every galaxy is a supermassive black hole. Some, like the one at the centre of our own Milky Way, aren’t particularly hungry. But NGC 4945’s supermassive black hole is ravenous, consuming huge amounts of matter — and the MUSE instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has caught it playing with its food. This messy eater, contrary to a black hole’s typical all-consuming reputation, is blowing out powerful winds of material. This cone-shaped wind is shown in red in the inset, overlaid on a wider image captured with the MPG/ESO telescope at La Silla. In fact, this wind is moving so fast that it will end up escaping the galaxy altogether, lost to the void of intergalactic space.

This is part of a new study that measured how winds move in several nearby galaxies. The MUSE observations show that these incredibly fast winds demonstrate a strange behaviour: they actually speed up far away from the central black hole, accelerating even more on their journey to the galactic outskirts.

This process ejects potential star-forming material from a galaxy, suggesting that black holes control the fates of their host galaxies by dampening the stellar birth rate. It also shows that the more powerful black holes impede their own growth by removing the gas and dust they feed on, driving the whole system closer towards a sort of galactic equilibrium. Now, with these new results, we are one step closer to understanding the acceleration mechanism of the winds responsible for shaping the evolution of galaxies, and the history of the universe.

Credit: ESO/C. Marconcini et al.

Astronomers have taken a crucial step in showing that the most massive black holes in the universe can create their own meals. Data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) provide new evidence that outbursts from black holes can help cool down gas to feed themselves.

This study was based on observations of seven clusters of galaxies. The centers of galaxy clusters contain the universe's most massive galaxies, which harbor huge black holes with masses ranging from millions to tens of billions of times that of the Sun. Jets from these black holes are driven by the black holes feasting on gas.

These images show two of the galaxy clusters in the study, the Perseus Cluster and the Centaurus Cluster. Chandra data represented in blue reveals X-rays from filaments of hot gas, and data from the VLT, an optical telescope in Chile, shows cooler filaments in red.

Credit: Perseus Cluster: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/V. Olivares et al.; Optical/IR: DSS; H-alpha: CFHT/SITELLE; Centaurus Cluster: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/V. Olivaresi et al.; Optical/IR: NASA/ESA/STScI; H-alpha: ESO/VLT/MUSE; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk

#NASAMarshall #NASA #astrophysics #NASAChandra #NASA #BlackHole #galaxy

Read more

Read more about NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

NASA researchers have discovered a perplexing case of a black hole that appears to be “tipped over,” rotating in an unexpected direction relative to the galaxy surrounding it. That galaxy, called NGC 5084, has been known for years, but the sideways secret of its central black hole lay hidden in old data archives. The discovery was made possible by new image analysis techniques developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley to take a fresh look at archival data from the agency’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Using the new methods, astronomers at Ames unexpectedly found four long plumes of plasma – hot, charged gas – emanating from NGC 5084. One pair of plumes extends above and below the plane of the galaxy. A surprising second pair, forming an “X” shape with the first, lies in the galaxy plane itself. Hot gas plumes are not often spotted in galaxies, and typically only one or two are present.

The method revealing such unexpected characteristics for galaxy NGC 5084 was developed by Ames research scientist Alejandro Serrano Borlaff and colleagues to detect low-brightness X-ray emissions in data from the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope. What they saw in the Chandra data seemed so strange that they immediately looked to confirm it, digging into the data archives of other telescopes and requesting new observations from two powerful ground-based observatories.

This image shows the structure of galaxy NGC 5084, with data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory overlaid on a visible-light image of the galaxy. Chandra’s data, shown in purple, revealed four plumes of hot gas emanating from a supermassive black hole rotating “tipped over” at the galaxy’s core.

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC, A. S. Borlaff, P. Marcum et al.; Optical full image: M. Pugh, B. Diaz; Image Processing: NASA/USRA/L. Proudfit

#NASAMarshall #NASA #astrophysics #NASAChandra #NASA #galaxy #blackhole #SupermassiveBlackHole

Read more

Read more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the glorious spiral galaxy NGC 5643, which is located roughly 40 million light-years away in the constellation Lupus, the Wolf. NGC 5643 is a grand design spiral, which refers to the galaxy’s symmetrical form with two large, winding spiral arms that are clearly visible. Bright-blue stars define the galaxy’s spiral arms, along with lacy reddish-brown dust clouds and pink star-forming regions.

As fascinating as the galaxy appears at visible wavelengths, some of NGC 5643’s most interesting features are invisible to the human eye. Ultraviolet and X-ray images and spectra of NGC 5643 show that the galaxy hosts an active galactic nucleus: an especially bright galactic core powered by a feasting supermassive black hole. When a supermassive black hole ensnares gas from its surroundings, the gas collects in a disk that heats up to hundreds of thousands of degrees. The superheated gas shines brightly across the electromagnetic spectrum, but especially at X-ray wavelengths.

NGC 5643’s active galactic nucleus isn’t the brightest source of X-rays in the galaxy, though. Researchers using ESA’s XMM-Newton discovered an even brighter X-ray-emitting object, called NGC 5643 X-1, on the galaxy’s outskirts. What could be a more powerful source of X-rays than a supermassive black hole? Surprisingly, the answer appears to be a much smaller black hole! While the exact identity of NGC 5643 X-1 is unknown, evidence points to a black hole that is about 30 times more massive than the Sun. Locked in an orbital dance with a companion star, the black hole ensnares gas from its stellar companion, creating a superheated disk that outshines the NGC 5643’s galactic core.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker

#NASAMarshall #NASA #NASAHubble #Hubble #NASAGoddard #galaxy

Read more

Read more about NASA’s Hubble Space Telescopee

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Today’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week features the glorious spiral galaxy NGC 5643, which is located roughly 40 million light-years away in the constellation Lupus. NGC 5643 is what’s known as a grand design spiral, referring to how the galaxy’s two large, winding spiral arms are clear to see. The spiral arms are defined by bright blue stars, lacy reddish-brown dust clouds and pink star-forming regions.

As fascinating as the galaxy appears at visible wavelengths, some of NGC 5643’s most interesting features are invisible to the human eye. Ultraviolet and X-ray images and spectra of NGC 5643 show that the galaxy hosts an active galactic nucleus: an especially bright galactic core powered by a feasting supermassive black hole. When a supermassive black hole ensnares gas from its surroundings, the gas collects in a disc that heats up to hundreds of thousands of degrees. The superheated gas shines brightly across the electromagnetic spectrum, but especially at X-ray wavelengths.

NGC 5643’s active galactic nucleus isn’t the brightest source of X-rays in the galaxy, though. Researchers using ESA’s XMM-Newton discovered an even brighter X-ray-emitting object, called NGC 5643 X-1, on the galaxy’s outskirts. What could be a more powerful source of X-rays than a supermassive black hole? Surprisingly, the answer appears to be a much smaller black hole! While the exact identity of NGC 5643 X-1 is not yet known, evidence points to a black hole that is about 30 times more massive than the Sun. Locked in an orbital dance with a companion star, the black hole ensnares gas from its stellar companion, creating a superheated disc that outshines the galactic centre.

NGC 5643 was also the subject of a previous Picture of the Week. The new image incorporates additional wavelengths of light, including the red color that is characteristic of gas heated by massive young stars.

[Image Description: A close-up of a spiral galaxy, seen face-on. Its center is a bright white point, surrounded by a large yellowish oval with thin lines of dust swirling in it. From the sides of the oval emerge two bright spiral arms which wind through the round disc of the galaxy, filled with shining pink spots where stars are forming and more dark reddish dust. Many stars can be seen in the foreground, over and around the galaxy.]

Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Riess, D. Thilker, D. De Martin (ESA/Hubble), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble); CC BY 4.0

Even matter ejected by black holes can run into objects in the dark. Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have found an unusual mark from a giant black hole's powerful jet striking an unidentified object in its path.

The discovery was made in a galaxy called Centaurus A (Cen A), located about 12 million light-years from Earth. Astronomers have long studied Cen A because it has a supermassive black hole in its center sending out spectacular jets that stretch out across the entire galaxy. The black hole launches this jet of high-energy particles not from inside the black hole, but from intense gravitational and magnetic fields around it.

The image shows low-energy X-rays seen by Chandra represented in pink, medium-energy X-rays in purple, and the highest-energy X-rays in blue.

Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/D. Bogensberger et al; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk;

#NASAMarshall #NASA #astrophysics #NASAChandra #NASA #galaxy #blackhole #supermassiveblackhole

Read more

Read more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

There are several clouds of superheated gas, seen by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, that are merging in the Abell 2125 galaxy cluster. X-rays from Chandra (purple and white); optical from Kitt Peak (gold)

Visual Description:
In this composite image of the Abell 2125 galaxy cluster, several clouds of superheated gas surround a bright, gleaming galaxy. Here, the entire image is speckled with glowing golden yellow and neon purple dots, individual galaxies within the cluster. At the center of the frame is the largest and brightest dot, a golden galaxy emitting four diffraction spikes. Surrounding this galaxy are translucent neon purple gas clouds, representing X-rays observed by Chandra. Faint pockets of X-ray gas are found throughout the image, but the most prominent clouds flank the central galaxy at our upper left and lower right.

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NSF/NOIRLab/KPNO/F. Owen; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major, K. Arcand

#NASAMarshall #NASA #astrophysics #NASAChandra #NASA #galaxy #GalaxyCluster

Read more

Read more about NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

For this Black Hole Friday, we present this spiral galaxy that contains a supermassive black hole and stars rapidly forming in its center. Chandra sees X-rays from gas near the massive black hole and from smaller black holes or neutron stars pulling material from companion stars. X-rays from Chandra (blue); optical from VLT (yellow and blue); infrared from Webb (red, green, and blue)

Visual Description:
This composite image features a close look at the supermassive black hole at the heart of the spiral galaxy known as NGC 1365. The brilliant black hole glows white at the center of the image, its outer edges tinted bright blue. From this core, two thick ropey red arms spiral out. Continuing their spiral curves, the arms extend well beyond the edges of the frame. Dotting the image are a series of white spots with neon blue outer edges. These are stars paired with smaller black holes or neutron stars, observed by Chandra.

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: ESO/VLT; Infrared: NASA/ESA/STScI/JWST/PHANGS; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare, J. Major

#NASAMarshall #NASA #astrophysics #NASAChandra #NASA #galaxy #BlackHole #SupermassiveBlackHole #BlackHoleFriday

Read more

Read more about NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

A rapidly feeding black hole at the center of a dwarf galaxy in the early universe, shown in this artist's concept, may hold important clues to the evolution of supermassive black holes in general.

Using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory, a team of astronomers discovered this low-mass supermassive black hole just 1.5 billion years after the big bang. The black hole is pulling in matter at a phenomenal rate — over 40 times the theoretical limit. While short lived, this black hole's “feast” could help astronomers explain how supermassive black holes grew so quickly in the early universe.

Supermassive black holes exist at the center of most galaxies, and modern telescopes continue to observe them at surprisingly early times in the universe's evolution. It's difficult to understand how these black holes were able to grow so big so rapidly. But with the discovery of a low-mass supermassive black hole feasting on material at an extreme rate so soon after the birth of the universe, astronomers now have valuable new insights into the mechanisms of rapidly growing black holes in the early universe.

The black hole, called LID-568, was hidden among thousands of objects in the Chandra X-ray Observatory's COSMOS legacy survey, a catalog resulting from some 4.6 million seconds of Chandra observations. This population of galaxies is very bright in the X-ray light, but invisible in optical and previous near-infrared observations. By following up with Webb, astronomers could use the observatory's unique infrared sensitivity to detect these faint counterpart emissions, which led to the discovery of the black hole.

Credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/M. Zamani

#NASAMarshall #NASA #NASAChandra #JWST #NASAWebb #NASAGoddard #galaxy #blackhole #SupermassiveBlackHole

Read more

Read more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory

Read more about NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes have identified a supermassive black hole that has torn apart one star and is now using that stellar wreckage to pummel another star or smaller black hole, as described in our latest press release. This research helps connect two cosmic mysteries and provides information about the environment around some of the bigger types of black holes.

This image shows Chandra X-ray data (purple) and an optical image of the source from Pan-STARRS (red, green, and blue) of the area around AT2019qiz. Chandra and other telescopes have identified this supermassive black hole that has torn apart one star and is now using that stellar wreckage to pummel another star or smaller black hole. The X-ray source at lower left is unrelated to the AT2019qiz system. It's most likely a supermassive black hole in a background galaxy located behind AT2019qiz.

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Queen’s Univ. Belfast/M. Nicholl et al.; Optical/IR: PanSTARRS, NSF/Legacy Survey/SDSS; Illustration: Soheb Mandhai / The Astro Phoenix; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk

#NASAMarshall #NASA #astrophysics #NASAChandra #NASA #ESA #BlackHole

Read more

Read more about NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Like two Sumo wrestlers squaring off, the closest confirmed pair of supermassive black holes have been observed in tight proximity. These are located approximately 300 light-years apart and were detected using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. These black holes, buried deep within a pair of colliding galaxies, are fueled by infalling gas and dust, causing them to shine brightly as active galactic nuclei (AGN).

This AGN pair is the closest one detected in the local universe using multiwavelength (visible and X-ray light) observations. While several dozen "dual" black holes have been found before, their separations are typically much greater than what was discovered in the gas-rich galaxy MCG-03-34-64. Astronomers using radio telescopes have observed one pair of binary black holes in even closer proximity than in MCG-03-34-64, but without confirmation in other wavelengths.

This is Hubble Space Telescope visible-light image of the galaxy MCG-03-34-064. Hubble's sharp view reveals three distinct bright spots embedded in a white ellipse at the galaxy's center (expanded in an inset image at upper right). Two of these bright spots are the source of strong X-ray emission, a telltale sign that they are supermassive black holes. The black holes shine brightly because they are converting infalling matter into energy, and blaze across space as active galactic nuclei. Their separation is about 300 light-years. The third spot is a blob of bright gas. The blue streak pointing to the 5 o'clock position may be a jet fired from one of the black holes. The black hole pair is a result of a merger between two galaxies that will eventually collide.

Credit: NASA, ESA, Anna Trindade Falcão (CfA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

#NASAMarshall #NASA #astrophysics #NASAChandra #NASA #NASAHubble #BlackHole #galaxy

Read more

Read more about NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope

Read more about NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

This image of NGC 281 shows X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The high-mass stars in NGC 281 drive many aspects of their galactic environment through powerful winds flowing from their surfaces and intense radiation that heats surrounding gas, "boiling it away" into interstellar space. This process results in the formation of large columns of gas and dust, as seen on the left side of the image. These structures likely contain newly forming stars. The eventual deaths of massive stars as supernovas will also seed the galaxy with material and energy.

Credit: NASA/CXC/CfA/S.Wolk

#NASAMarshall #NASA #astrophysics #NASAChandra #NASA #galaxy #supermassiveblackhole #starcluster

Read more

Read more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered the first pair of supermassive black holes in a spiral galaxy similar to the Milky Way. Approximately 160 million light years from Earth, the pair is the nearest known such phenomenon. The black holes are located near the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 3393. Separated by only 490 light years, the black holes are likely the remnant of a merger of two galaxies of unequal mass a billion or more years ago. This 2011 image of NGC 3393 show X-rays from Chandra.

Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/G.Fabbiano et al;

#NASAMarshall #NASA #astrophysics #NASAChandra #NASA #galaxy #supermassiveblackhole #blackhole #spiralgalaxy

Read more

Read more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

Date: 2023-08-25
Location: Krivaja Vojnicka, Croatia
Telescope: SW 130 PDS
Camera: Canon 2000D
Mount: SW EQ3 (Asterion mod)
Exp: 200x120s

Additional Ha signal provided by Luka Faltis

This 2011 image of VV 340 show X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The two galaxies shown here are in the early stage of an interaction that will eventually lead to them merging in millions of years. The Chandra data shows that the northern galaxy contains a rapidly growing supermassive black hole that is heavily obscured by dust and gas. Data from other wavelengths shows that the two interacting galaxies are evolving at different rates.

Credit: X-ray NASA/CXC/IfA/D.Sanders et al;

#NASAMarshall #NASA #astrophysics #NASAChandra #NASA #galaxy #supermassiveblackhole #blackhole

Read more

Read more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

The celestial object showcased in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is the spiral galaxy UGC 9684, which lies around 240 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Boötes. This image shows an impressive example of several classic galactic features, including a clear bar in the galaxy's center, and a halo surrounding its disk.

The data for this Hubble image came from a study of Type-II supernovae host galaxies. These cataclysmic stellar explosions take place throughout the universe, and are of great interest to astronomers, so automated surveys scan the night sky and attempt to catch sight of them. The supernova which brought UGC 9684 to Hubble's attention occurred in 2020. It has since faded from view and is not visible in this image, which was taken in 2023.

Remarkably, the 2020 supernova isn't the only one that astronomers have seen in this galaxy – UGC 9684 has hosted four supernova-like events since 2006, putting it up there with the most active supernova-producing galaxies. It turns out that UGC 9684 is a quite active star-forming galaxy, calculated as producing one solar mass worth of stars every few years! The most massive of these stars are short-lived, a few million years, and end their days as supernova explosions. This high level of star formation makes UGC 9684 a veritable supernova factory, and a galaxy to watch for astronomers hoping to examine these exceptional events.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick

#NASA #NASAGoddard #NASAMarshall #NASAGoddard #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ESA #galaxy #blackhole #supermassiveblackhole

Read more

Read more about NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope

NASA Media Usage Guidelines

The celestial object showcased in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is the spiral galaxy UGC 9684, which lies around 240 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Boötes. This image shows an impressive example of several classic galactic features, including a clear bar in the galaxy's center, and a halo surrounding its disk.

The data for this Hubble image came from a study of Type-II supernovae host galaxies. These cataclysmic stellar explosions take place throughout the universe, and are of great interest to astronomers, so automated surveys scan the night sky and attempt to catch sight of them. The supernova which brought UGC 9684 to Hubble's attention occurred in 2020. It has since faded from view and is not visible in this image, which was taken in 2023.

Remarkably, the 2020 supernova isn't the only one that astronomers have seen in this galaxy – UGC 9684 has hosted four supernova-like events since 2006, putting it up there with the most active supernova-producing galaxies. It turns out that UGC 9684 is a quite active star-forming galaxy, calculated as producing one solar mass worth of stars every few years! The most massive of these stars are short-lived, a few million years, and end their days as supernova explosions. This high level of star formation makes UGC 9684 a veritable supernova factory, and a galaxy to watch for astronomers hoping to examine these exceptional events.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick

#NASA #NASAGoddard #NASAMarshall #NASAGoddard #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ESA #galaxy #blackhole #supermassiveblackhole

Read more

Read more about NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope

NASA Media Usage Guidelines