Oxymoronic Black Hole Provides Clues to Growth

Chandra_606_1024

chandra_606 August 11th, 2015

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Michigan/V.F.Baldassare, et al; Optical: SDSS

The smallest supermassive black hole ever detected in the center of a galaxy has been identified using observations with Chandra and the 6.5-meter Clay Telescope. The host galaxy for the tiny heavyweight black hole is a dwarf disk galaxy called RGG 118, shown in an image from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The inset is a Chandra image of the galaxy's center, showing hot gas near the black hole. This oxymoronic object could provide clues to how much larger black holes formed along with their host galaxies 13 billion years or more in the past.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2015/rgg118/

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

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

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Collage
Object Name
RGG 118

Distance Details Distance

Universescale3
340,000,000 light years
Chandra_606_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 15h 23m 4.9s
DEC = 11° 45’ 54.3”
Orientation
North is 0.1° CCW
Field of View
3.3 x 3.3 arcminutes
Constellation
Serpens

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Magenta Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (X-ray) 826.7 pm
Blue SDSS Optical (g-band) 468.6 nm
Green SDSS Optical (r-band) 616.5 nm
Red SDSS Optical (i-band) 748.1 nm
Spectrum_xray1
Magenta
Blue
Green
Red
Chandra_606_1280
×
ID
606
Subject Category
Subject Name
RGG 118
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Michigan/V.F.Baldassare, et al; Optical: SDSS
Release Date
2015-08-11
Lightyears
340,000,000
Redshift
340,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2015/rgg118/
Type
Collage
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, SDSS, SDSS, SDSS
Instrument
ACIS, -, -, -
Color Assignment
Magenta, Blue, Green, Red
Band
X-ray, Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
X-ray, g-band, r-band, i-band
Central Wavelength
0.8267, 468.6, 616.5, 748.1
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
230.7705802, 11.7650922
Reference Dimension
3600.0, 3600.0
Reference Pixel
1801.0, 1801.0
Scale
1.51505e-05, 1.5150472e-05
Rotation
0.11
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 Observatory Center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
rgg118.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2015/rgg118/rgg118.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2015-08-11T15:47:56-04:00
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
340,000,000 light years

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