These Hubble Space Telescope images, combined with radio maps produced by the Very Large Array Radio Interferometer (blue contour lines), show surprisingly varied and intricate structures of gas and stars that suggest the mechanisms powering radio galaxies are more complex than thought previously. The bizarre, never before seen detail may be a combination of light from massive star forming regions, small satellite dwarf galaxies, and bow shocks caused by jets of hot gas blasted out of the galaxies' cores by suspected black holes.
[LEFT] - 3C265. Hubble resolves numerous bright star clusters or dwarf "satellite" galaxies surrounding a bright central compact structure. The line corresponds to the axis of the galaxy's radio emissions, which unlike other radio galaxies, is in a different direction from the optical region. The star forming regions might result from a collision between galaxies. The jet that produces the radio emissions might have further intensified star formation.
[CENTER] - 3C324. A number of small interacting components are distributed roughly along the radio axis in this source. Comparison of the Hubble image with that from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope suggests that the central regions of this galaxy are obscured by a large dust lane.
[RIGHT] - 3C368. One of the best studied radio galaxies, this image is composed of a very smooth cigar-shaped emission region closely aligned with the radio axis, upon which is superimposed a string of bright knots that might be stars or dust. This suggests that a jet of high speed gas, presumably ejected from a black hole at the core of the galaxy, might be triggering star formation along its path.
Credits
M. Longair (Cambridge University, England), NASA, and NRAO| About The Object | |
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| Object Name | 3C265, 3C324, 3C368 |
| About The Object | |
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| 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 |
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| 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. |
