Hubble image archive
Phoenix Cluster
The Phoenix galaxy cluster contains the first confirmed supermassive black hole that is unable to prevent large numbers of stars from forming in the core of the galaxy cluster where it resides. The Phoenix Cluster system has several distinct elements that help tell the story of i...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2019
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2019-44-4584-image
The Phoenix galaxy cluster contains the first confirmed supermassive black hole that is unable to prevent large numbers of stars from forming in the core of the galaxy cluster where it resides.
The Phoenix Cluster system has several distinct elements that help tell the story of its unusually high star formation. Data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory show that the coolest gas it can detect is located near the center of the cluster. In the absence of significant sources of heat, astronomers expect cooling to occur at the highest rates in a cluster’s center, where the densest gas is located.
Optical observations with the Hubble Space Telescope provide evidence for further cooling of gas near the center of the Phoenix Cluster. Ten billion solar masses of cooler gas are located along filaments to the north and south of the black hole, which likely originate from outbursts by the supermassive black hole located in the center of the image. The outbursts generated jets seen in radio waves by the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope. As the jets push outward, they inflated cavities, or bubbles, in the hot gas that pervades the cluster. Chandra’s sharp X-ray vision detected these cavities.
This image was made by combining data from Chandra, Hubble and the VLA. X-rays from Chandra depict hot gas in purple and radio emission from the VLA features jets in red. Optical light data from Hubble show galaxies (in yellow), and filaments of cooler gas where stars are forming (in light blue).
Credits
NASA, ESA, and NRAOImage Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Phoenix Cluster |
| Object Description | Cluster of galaxies |
| R.A. Position | 23:44:40.9 |
| Dec. Position | -42:41:54 |
| Constellation | Phoenix |
| Distance | 5.73 billion light-years |
| Dimensions | Image is 44 arcsec across (about 1.2 million light-years) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from programs (M. McDonald) |
| Instrument | ACS/WFC |
| Exposure Dates | May-July 2018 |
| Filters | F475W, F775W, F850LP |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F475W Green: F775W Red: F850LP |
More Images From This Period
Source
Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
View on NASA.gov