The Long Jet of Pictor A
Explanation:
A jet stretching nearly a million light years
has been imaged emanating from galaxy Pictor A.
The thin
jet of
electrons and
protons
shoots out at
nearly light-speed
likely from the vicinity of a large
black hole at the galaxy center.
At the left of the
above image in
X-rays is the radio galaxy
Pictor A, known as a
radio galaxy for its strong
radio emission.
At the far end of the
jet on the right a
hot spot glows as the intense particle beam bores
through a gas cloud in intergalactic space.
The jet and hot spot of
Pictor A had been seen previously in radio waves,
but only recently has the orbiting
Chandra X-ray Observatory confirmed its unusual power.
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.
