Ancient Black Hole Speeds Through Sun's Galactic Neighborhood, Devouring Companion Star

 Ancient Black Hole Speeds Through Sun's Galactic Neighborhood, Devouring Companion Star

Credits

A. Feild (STScI)

About The Object
Object Name XTE J1118+480
Object Description Black Hole X-ray Nova
R.A. Position 11h 18m 10.90s
Dec. Position +48° 02' 13.0''
Constellation Ursa Major
Distance 6,000 light-years from Earth
About The Data
Data Description Principal Astronomers: F. Mirabel (Inst. for Astronomy and Space Physics of Argentina and French Atomic Energy Commission), V. Dhawan (NRAO), R. Mignani (ESO), I. Rodrigues (Brazilian National Research Council at the French Atomic Energy Commission), F. Guglielmetti (STScI) About the DSS Data:  Instrument: Glass photographic plates taken at the Schmidt telescope at the California Institute of Technology's Palomar Observatory; scanned for the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) Projects. Scan Epoch: DSS POSS-I, and DSS POSS-II Filters: IIIaJ emulsion (blue), IIIaF emulsion (red), and IIIaJ emulsion (blue) Exposure Dates: 1953, 1991, 1995, and 1996 About the X-Ray Data:  Instrument: NASA's Rossi X-Ray Timing Experiment (RXTE) Filters: X-Ray wavelengths (2 - 250 keV) Exposure Date: March 29, 2000 About the VLBA Data: Instrument: NRAO's Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA) Filters: 8.4 and 15.4 GHz Exposure Date: May and July, 2000
About The Object
Object Name A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
Object Description The type of astronomical object.
R.A. Position Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
Dec. Position Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
Constellation One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
Distance The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
Dimensions The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
About The Data
Data Description
  • Proposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
  • Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
Instrument The science instrument used to produce the data.
Exposure Dates The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
Filters The camera filters that were used in the science observations.
About The Image
Image Credit The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content.
Publication Date The date and time the release content became public.
Color Info A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
Orientation The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere.