In visible light, the core of the Perseus galaxy cluster looks completely different. The cluster gas so prominent at X-ray wavelengths gives way to a clutch of fuzzy galaxies viewed through a scrim of faint stars in our own. This image shows the same sky area as the Chandra image above. The bizarre object at the center is NGC 1275, the cluster's central galaxy and itself a prominent source of X-ray and radio emission. At the galaxy's core lies a supermassive black hole activated by infalling matter. Glowing filaments extending from the galaxy trace bubbles of gas blown violently outward by the black hole. Despite this activity, Hitomi measurements show that hot cluster gas in the vicinity is moving at cosmically modest speeds.
July 07, 2016
Perseus galaxy
In visible light, the core of the Perseus galaxy cluster looks completely different. The cluster gas so prominent at X-ray wavelengths gives way to a clutch of fuzzy galaxies viewed through a scrim of faint stars in our own. This image shows the same sky area as the Chandra image above. The bizarre object at the center is NGC 1275, the cluster's central galaxy and itself a prominent source of X-ray and radio emission. At the galaxy's core lies a supermassive black hole activated by infalling matter. Glowing filaments extending from the galaxy trace bubbles of gas blown violently outward by the black hole. Despite this activity, Hitomi measurements show that hot cluster gas in the vicinity is moving at cosmically modest speeds.
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