These images taken in ultraviolet light by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveal the brightening of a jet of gas blasting from the core of the gigantic elliptical galaxy M87. M87 is located 54 million light-years away in the Virgo Cluster.
The flare-up is coming from a knot of hot gas, called HST-1, embedded in the jet. The jet is powered by accretion onto a supermassive black hole, one of the most massive black holes yet discovered.
Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) snapped the top row of images and Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) the bottom row. The core of M87 is located at lower left in the images. HST-1 is the bright blob at center. The glowing material at far right is part of a stream of particles in the jet that speed up and glow in the ultraviolet.
The Hubble images, obtained from the Hubble archive, show the jet growing brighter over a seven-year period, eventually outshining even the luminous core of M87. The ACS image taken on May 9, 2005, reveals that HST-1 has become brighter than M87's core. HST-1 is 214 light-years from the core.
Hubble's crisp vision gives astronomers a clear view of the brightening knot. The telescope resolves HST-1 and separates it from the galaxy's core.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and J. Madrid (McMaster University)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | M87 Jet |
| Object Description | Giant Elliptical Galaxy with Jet |
| R.A. Position | 12h 30m 49.42s |
| Dec. Position | 12° 23' 28.02" |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Distance | 54 million light-years (17 megaparsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | This image was created from HST data from proposals: , , , , , , and : J. Biretta (STScI) and : W. Sparks (STScI). |
| Instrument | HST>STIS/MAMA and HST>ACS/HRC |
| Exposure Dates | May 1999 - December 2006 |
| Filters | STIS: F25QTZ ACS: F220W and F250W |
| About The Image | |
| Compass Image |  |
| 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 |
|
| 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. |
