Hubble image archive
Runaway Black Hole Compass Image
This compass image shows a Hubble Space Telescope archival photo which captures a curious linear feature that is so unusual it was first dismissed as an imaging artifact from Hubble’s cameras. But follow-up spectroscopic observations reveal it is a 200,000-light-year-long chain o...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2023
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2023-010-01gwq2v7k5cm4dva3m3g5e2n7f
This compass image shows a Hubble Space Telescope archival photo which captures a curious linear feature that is so unusual it was first dismissed as an imaging artifact from Hubble’s cameras. But follow-up spectroscopic observations reveal it is a 200,000-light-year-long chain of young blue stars. A supermassive black hole lies at the tip of the bridge at lower left. The black hole was ejected from the galaxy at upper right. It compressed gas in its wake to leave a long trail of young blue stars. Nothing like this has ever been seen before in the universe. This unusual event happened when the universe was approximately half its current age.
Credits
Science
NASA, ESA, Pieter van Dokkum (Yale)
Image Processing
Joseph DePasquale (STScI)
Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | RCP28 |
| Object Description | Runaway supermassive black hole |
| R.A. Position | 40:25:51.30 |
| Dec. Position | -08:20:46.26 |
| Constellation | Ophiuchus |
| Distance | 7.669 billion light years (z=0.964) |
| Dimensions | Image is about 2.4 arcmin across (about 1.4 million light-years) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from program 16912 (P. van Dokkum) |
| Instrument | ACS |
| Exposure Dates | September 5, 2022 |
| Filters | F606W, F814W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Two filters were used to sample wide 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: Cyan: F606W, Orange: F814W |
More Images From This Period
Downloads
Source
Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
View on NASA.gov