X-ray and Optical Images of IC 2497
New data from Chandra and other telescopes of a cosmic "blob" and a gas bubble could be a new way to probe the past activity of a giant black hole and its effect on its host galaxy. Hanny's Voorwerp, first discovered by a citizen scientist, is a gas cloud located next to the galaxy IC 2497. Astronomers think the giant black hole in IC 2497 used to power a quasar, generating radiation that illuminated Hanny's Voorwerp. Within the last 200,000 years the quasar has faded. The Chandra data suggest that jets powered by the black hole have blown a bubble in surrounding gas.
(Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/ETH Zurich/L.Sartori et al, Optical: NASA/STScI)