More Images of APM 08279+5255
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Chandra Observation of APM 08279+5255
Chandra observations reveal evidence of high-speed winds blowing gas away from the supermassive black hole that powers the quasar APM 08279+5255. This discovery suggests that such winds may play a key role in regulating the growth of supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies.
(Credit: NASA/CXC/PSU/G.Chartas)
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Chandra Observation of PG1115+080
The source is a gravitationally lensed z = 1.72 mini broad absorption line quasar.
Observed on June 2, 2000 for 26.8ks
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Wind from Accretion Disk around a Black Hole
This illustration depicts a massive black hole at the center of a galaxy. Around it is a swirling disk of gas, which gradually pours down into the black hole. As the gas falls inward, it heats up and glows brightly, getting hotter and hotter the closer it is to the event horizon. Some of the gas is blown away from the disk like steam from a kettle. As this gas streams off the disk, the intense radiation generated by the very hot gas near the event horizon forces the escaping gas into a cone and accelerates it to speeds as high as a tenth the speed of light.
(Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
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Gravitational Lensing
X-rays and other forms of light from a distant quasar can be bent by the gravitational field of an intervening galaxy. This bending can produce multiple images of the same quasar. These images will in general be magnified by different amounts, so will in general appear to have different brightness. Note that the lensing galaxy is often very dim or invisible.
(Credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss)
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Chandra X-ray Image with Scale Bar
Scale bar = .5 arcsec
Credit: NASA/CXC/PSU/G.Chartas
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