NASA - California Governor Brown Meets Scientists at NASA Ames

NASA - California Governor Brown Meets Scientists at NASA Ames

Una fusión excepcional desvela los secretos de la evolución de las galaxias

Una fusión excepcional desvela los secretos de la evolución de las galaxias

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Immagine EO della settimana: Acque limpide nei laghi canadesi

Immagine EO della settimana: Acque limpide nei laghi canadesi

Proba-V opent ogen

Proba-V opent ogen

IMMENSE POWER GENERATED BY SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE

FROM: NASA

This composite image of a galaxy illustrates how the intense gravity of a supermassive black hole can be tapped to generate immense power. The image contains X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), optical light obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (gold) and radio waves from the NSF’s Very Large Array (pink).

This multi-wavelength view shows 4C+29.30, a galaxy located some 850 million light years from Earth. The radio emission comes from two jets of particles that are speeding at millions of miles per hour away from a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. The estimated mass of the black hole is about 100 million times the mass of our Sun. The ends of the jets show larger areas of radio emission located outside the galaxy.

The X-ray data show a different aspect of this galaxy, tracing the location of hot gas. The bright X-rays in the center of the image mark a pool of million-degree gas around the black hole. Some of this material may eventually be consumed by the black hole, and the magnetized, whirlpool of gas near the black hole could in turn, trigger more output to the radio jet.

Most of the low-energy X-rays from the vicinity of the black hole are absorbed by dust and gas, probably in the shape of a giant doughnut around the black hole. This doughnut, or torus blocks all the optical light produced near the black hole, so astronomers refer to this type of source as a hidden or buried black hole. The optical light seen in the image is from the stars in the galaxy.

The bright spots in X-ray and radio emission on the outer edges of the galaxy, near the ends of the jets, are caused by extremely high energy electrons following curved paths around magnetic field lines. They show where a jet generated by the black hole has plowed into clumps of material in the galaxy (mouse over the image for the location of these bright spots). Much of the energy of the jet goes into heating the gas in these clumps, and some of it goes into dragging cool gas along the direction of the jet. Both the heating and the dragging can limit the fuel supply for the supermassive black hole, leading to temporary starvation and stopping its growth. This feedback process is thought to cause the observed correlation between the mass of the supermassive black hole and the combined mass of the stars in the central region or bulge or a galaxy.

These results were reported in two different papers. The first, which concentrated on the effects of the jets on the galaxy, is available online and was published in the May 10, 2012 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. It is led by Aneta Siemiginowska from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, MA and the co-authors are Łukasz Stawarz, from the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Yoshinodai, Japan; Teddy Cheung from the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC; Thomas Aldcroft from CfA; Jill Bechtold from University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ; Douglas Burke from CfA; Daniel Evans from CfA; Joanna Holt from Leiden University in Leiden, The Netherlands; Marek Jamrozy from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland; and Giulia Migliori from CfA. The second, which concentrated on the supermassive black hole, is available online and was published in the October 20, 2012 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. It is led by Malgorzata Sobolewska from CfA, and the co-authors are Aneta Siemiginowska, Giulia Migliori, Łukasz Stawarz, Marek Jamrozy, Daniel Evans, and Teddy Cheung.

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra's science and flight operations from Cambridge, Mass.

Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/A. Siemiginowska et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA

NASA - NASA's Google Hangout Connects Space Station, "Star Trek Into Darkness" Crews

NASA - NASA's Google Hangout Connects Space Station, "Star Trek Into Darkness" Crews

First new Galileo satellite arrives at ESA for space testing

First new Galileo satellite arrives at ESA for space testing

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

NASA VIDEO OF MASSIVE SOLAR ERUPTION

FROM: NASA
Several missions within NASA’s Heliophysics observatory captured images of a gigantic eruption on the sun on May 1, 2013. Working together, such missions provide excellent coverage of a wide variety of solar events, a wealth of scientific data -- and lots of beautiful imagery

SCIENTISTS LOOK AT NEUTRAL WINDS IN THE IONOSPHERE

FROM: NASA

Red and white vapor clouds filled the skies over the Marshall Islands as part of NASA’s Equatorial Vortex Experiment (EVEX). The red cloud was formed by the release of lithium vapor and the white tracer clouds were formed by the release of trimethyl aluminum (TMA). These clouds allowed scientists on the ground from various locations in the Marshall Islands to observe the neutral winds in the ionosphere. The EVEX was successfully conducted during the early morning hours on May 7 from Roi Namur, Republic of the Marshall Islands. A NASA Terrier-Oriole sounding rocket was launched at 3:39 a.m. EDT and was followed by a launch of Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket 90 seconds later. Preliminary indications are that both rockets released their vapor clouds of lithium or trimethyl aluminum, which were observed from various locations in the area, and all science instruments on the rockets worked as planned. Image Credit: NASA/John Grant

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Week In Images

Week In Images

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update