Pointing_X-ray_Eyes_at_our_Resident_Supermassive_Black_Hole.jpg
Size of this preview:
800 × 600 pixels
.
Other resolutions:
320 × 240 pixels
|
640 × 480 pixels
|
1,024 × 768 pixels
|
1,280 × 960 pixels
|
2,560 × 1,920 pixels
|
4,000 × 3,000 pixels
.
Summary
Description Pointing X-ray Eyes at our Resident Supermassive Black Hole.jpg |
English:
NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has captured these first, focused views of the supermassive
black hole
at the heart of our galaxy in high-energy
X-ray
light. The background image, taken in
infrared
light, shows the location of our Milky Way's humongous black hole, called Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* for short.
In the main image, the brightest white dot is the hottest material located closest to the black hole, and the surrounding pinkish blob is hot gas, likely belonging to a nearby supernova remnant. The time series at right shows a flare caught by NuSTAR over an observing period of two days in July; the middle panel shows the peak of the flare, when the black hole was consuming and heating matter to temperatures up to 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius). The main image is composed of light seen at four different X-ray energies. Blue light represents energies of 10 to 30 kiloelectron volts (keV); green is 7 to 10 keV; and red is 3 to 7 keV. The time series shows light with energies of 3 to 30 keV. The background image of the central region of our Milky Way was taken at shorter infrared wavelengths by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope . |
Date | |
Source | NASA |
Author | NASA |
Licensing
Public domain Public domain false false |
This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA . NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted ". (See Template:PD-USGov , NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy .) | ||
Warnings:
|