Credit: Science: NASA, ESA, STScI, Yuhan Yao (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

This is a combined Hubble Space Telescope/Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of galaxy located 600 million light-years away that is host to the telltale signature of a roaming supermassive black hole. Visible in the Hubble image is a tidal disruption event (TDE), an intense flash of radiation caused by the supermassive black hole eating a star. The TDE appears as an isolated blue-white point source of ultraviolet light, while the galaxy is colored orange in visible light. In addition, X-ray light is captured by Chandra as a blue haze that surrounds the TDE. Both Hubble and Chandra observations were combined to pinpoint the TDE's location, which is offset from the center of the galaxy, which appears as a bright orange-white blob.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://science.nasa.gov/asset/hubble/black-hole-tde-at2024tvd-hubble-chandra/

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

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