X-Ray Wind From NGC 3783
Explanation:
A black
hole is supposed to inexorably attract matter.
But the intense radiation generated as material swirls and plunges into
its high gravity field also heats up surrounding gas and drives it away.
In fact, measurements made using
this recent Chandra Observatory X-ray
spectrum of active galaxy
NGC 3783
reveal a wind of highly ionized
atoms blowing away from the galaxy's suspected
central
black hole at a million miles per hour.
Displayed in false color, the bright central spot is the
X-ray image of NGC 3783 while the
lines radiating away represent
an X-ray
spectrum of this source
produced by Chandra's
High
Energy Transmission Grating (HETG).
An X-ray spectrum is the analog to
the rainbow spread of colors in a visible light spectrum.
It represents a detailed, spread out image of X-ray colors or
energies arising from the source.
Ionized atoms of iron, magnesium, oxygen, nitrogen and other
elements produce
patterns of absorption at known X-ray energies.
These patterns have been identified in
the spectrum of NGC 3783 at slightly shifted energies
and the measured shifts indicate the hot wind's velocity.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
