Runaway Black Hole Near RCP28

Stsci_2023-010d_1024

stsci_2023-010d April 6th, 2023

Credit: NASA, ESA, Pieter van Dokkum (Yale University)

This Hubble Space Telescope archival photo captures a curious linear feature that is so unusual it was first dismissed as an imaging artifact from Hubble's cameras. But follow-up spectroscopic observations reveal it is a 200,000-light-year-long chain of young blue stars. A supermassive black hole lies at the tip of the bridge at lower left. The black hole was ejected from the galaxy at upper right. It compressed gas in its wake to leave a long trail of young blue stars. Nothing like this has ever been seen before in the universe. This unusual event happened when the universe was approximately half its current age.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-010

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: http://stsci.edu/copyright/

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
RCP28
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Component > Central Black Hole

Distance

Universescale3
7,669,000,000 light years
Stsci_2023-010d_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 2h 41m 43.4s
DEC = -8° 20’ 46.3”
Orientation
North is 0.3° CW
Field of View
2.4 x 1.3 arcminutes
Constellation
Cetus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Cyan Hubble (WFC3/UVIS) Optical (V) 606.0 nm
Orange Hubble (WFC3/UVIS) Optical (I) 814.0 nm
Spectrum_base
Cyan
Orange
Stsci_2023-010d_1280
×
ID
2023-010d
Subject Category
C.5.4.6  
Subject Name
RCP28
Credits
NASA, ESA, Pieter van Dokkum (Yale University)
Release Date
2023-04-06
Lightyears
7,669,000,000
Redshift
0.964
Reference Url
https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-010
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Hubble, Hubble
Instrument
WFC3/UVIS, WFC3/UVIS
Color Assignment
Cyan, Orange
Band
Optical, Optical
Bandpass
V, I
Central Wavelength
606, 814
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
Reference Value
40.43091533914, -8.34618454922
Reference Dimension
2866.00, 1612.00
Reference Pixel
2000.39683251050, 1006.19101158997
Scale
-0.00001379285, 0.00001379284
Rotation
-0.250000
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
STScI
URL
http://stsci.edu
Name
Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach
Email
outreach@stsci.edu
Telephone
410-338-4444
Address
3700 San Martin Drive
City
Baltimore
State/Province
MD
Postal Code
21218
Country
USA
Rights
http://stsci.edu/copyright/
Publisher
STScI
Publisher ID
stsci
Resource ID
STSCI-H-p23010d-f-2866x1612.tif
Metadata Date
2023-04-05T10:43:23-04:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
7,669,000,000 light years

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