Arp 299: Black Holes in Colliding Galaxies
Explanation:
Is only one black hole spewing high energy radiation -- or two?
To
help find out,
astronomers trained
NASA's Earth-orbiting
NuSTAR and
Chandra
telescopes on
Arp 299, the enigmatic colliding galaxies expelling the radiation.
The two galaxies of
Arp 299 have been locked in a
gravitational combat for millions of years,
while their central black holes will soon
do battle themselves.
Featured, the high-resolution visible-light image was taken by
Hubble, while the superposed diffuse glow of
X-ray light
was imaged by NuSTAR and shown in false-color red, green, and blue.
NuSTAR
observations show that only one of the
central black holes is seen fighting its way through
a region of gas and dust -- and so absorbing matter and emitting X-rays.
The energetic radiation, coming only from the galaxy center on the right, is surely
created nearby -- but
outside
-- the central
black hole's
event horizon.
In a billion years or so, only one
composite galaxy will remain, and only one
central supermassive black hole.
Soon thereafter, though, another galaxy may enter the fray.
Transparent Science:
Browse 1,350+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code Library
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.
