05/15/2013 12:00 AM EDT
This
composite image of a galaxy illustrates how the intense gravity of a
supermassive black hole can be tapped to generate immense power. The
image contains X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue),
optical light obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (gold) and radio
waves from the NSF's Very Large Array (pink).
This multi-wavelength view
shows 4C+29.30, a galaxy located some 850 million light years from
Earth. The radio emission comes from two jets of particles that are
speeding at millions of miles per hour away from a supermassive black
hole at the center of the galaxy.
The estimated mass of the black hole
is about 100 million times the mass of our Sun. The ends of the jets
show larger areas of radio emission located outside the galaxy. The
X-ray data show a different aspect of this galaxy, tracing the location
of hot gas. The bright X-rays in the center of the image mark a pool of
million-degree gas around the black hole. Some of this material may
eventually be consumed by the black hole, and the magnetized, whirlpool
of gas near the black hole could in turn, trigger more output to the
radio jet.
Most of the low-energy X-rays from the vicinity of the black
hole are absorbed by dust and gas, probably in the shape of a giant
doughnut around the black hole. This doughnut, or torus blocks all the
optical light produced near the black hole, so astronomers refer to this
type of source as a hidden or buried black hole. The optical light seen
in the image is from the stars in the galaxy.
