Starburst Galaxy With Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources

Chandra_159_1024

chandra_159 June 5th, 2001

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

This Chandra image is colorized to highlight a population of point-like "ultraluminous" X-ray sources in M82, a starburst galaxy 11 million light years from Earth. Red represents the low energy band, green intermediate, and blue the highest observed energies. The white and yellow sources are those that emit significant amounts of both low- and high-energy X-rays. The red diffuse cloud is caused by hot gas flowing away from the central region of M82. The ultraluminous sources, which emit ten to several hundred times more X-ray power than similar sources in our Galaxy, are thought to be either massive black holes, or black holes that are beaming energy toward Earth. Observations of M82 and other starburst galaxies suggest that the origin of ultraluminous X-ray sources is related to a burst of star formation triggered by a collision with another galaxy. Astronomers suspect that M82 collided with M81, a nearby large galaxy, about 100 million years ago.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0094true/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
M82

Distance

Universescale2
12,000,000 light years
Chandra_159_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 9h 55m 51.2s
DEC = 69° 40’ 39.9”
Orientation
North is 0.3° CCW
Field of View
3.9 x 3.9 arcminutes
Constellation
Ursa Major

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 1.65 nm
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 830.0 pm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 250.0 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Chandra_159_1280
×
ID
159
Subject Category
Subject Name
M82
Credits
NASA/SAO/G.Fabbiano et al.
Release Date
2001-06-05
Lightyears
12,000,000
Redshift
12,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0094true/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Chandra, Chandra
Instrument
ACIS, ACIS, ACIS
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray
Bandpass
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray
Central Wavelength
1.65, 0.83, 0.25
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
148.9632096, 69.6777428
Reference Dimension
2100.0, 2100.0
Reference Pixel
1051.0, 1051.0
Scale
3.10159e-05, 3.1015938e-05
Rotation
0.30
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
WCS retrieved using CXCs PinpointWCS
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
0094true_xray.tif
Metadata Date
2011-10-20T14:15:47-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×
Universescalefull
12,000,000 light years

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