| Chandra
measured the effects of the intense radiation produced by matter before
it plunges into the giant black hole at the core of the active galaxy NGC3783.
The radiation heats the surrounding gas and drives a million mile per hour
wind of energetic particles away from the crushing grip of the black hole's
gravity. The actual Chandra image (top section) is the central bright spot.
The long intersecting lines show the dispersion of the X-ray beam, by the
High Energy Transmission Grating, spread into a rainbow-like display of
hundreds of different X-ray "colours" or energies. |
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Computers
then translated this display into a jagged line-plot. Specific elements
in the wind (oxygen, neon, magnesium, silicon, sulfur, argon, and iron)
reveal their presence by sharp absorption dips in the plot. By examining
the widths and locations of these dips, researchers can use the same principle
as a radar gun to measure the velocities of the powerful gas flows at the
galaxy's core.
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