This spectacular edge-on galaxy, called ESO 243-49, is believed to be home to an intermediate-mass black hole that may have been stripped off of a cannibalized dwarf galaxy. The estimated 20,000-solar-mass black hole lies above the galactic plane. This is an unlikely place for such a massive back hole to exist, unless it belonged to a small galaxy that was gravitationally torn apart by ESO 243-49. The circle identifies a unique X-ray source that pinpoints the black hole. The X-rays are believed to be radiation from a hot accretion disk around the black hole. The blue light not only comes from a hot accretion disk, but also from the possible existence of a cluster of hot young stars that formed around the black hole. The galaxy is 290 million light-years from Earth. Hubble can't resolve the stars individually because the suspected cluster is too far away. Their presence is inferred from the color and brightness of the light coming from the black hole's location.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and S. Farrell (Sydney Institute for Astronomy, University of Sydney)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | ESO 243-49 HLX-1 |
| Object Description | Edge-on Spiral Galaxy with Black Hole |
| R.A. Position | 01h 10m 27.73s |
| Dec. Position | -46° 4' 27.3" |
| Constellation | Phoenix |
| Distance | 290 million light-years (100 million parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The image was created from Hubble data from proposal : S. Farrell (Sydney Institute for Astronomy, University of Sydney), C. Knigge and T. Maccarone (University of Southampton), A. Gosling (University of Oxford), M. Servillat (Harvard University), K. Wiersema (University of Leicester), and N. Webb, D. Barret, and O. Godet (Centre d' Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Toulouse, France) |
| Instrument | HST>WFC3/UVIS and HST>WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | September 23-24, 2010, Exposure Time: 50 minutes |
| Filters | WFC3/UVIS: F390W (C), F555W (V), and F774W (i) WFC3/IR: F160W (H) |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3 instrument on HST. Several filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F390W (C) Aquamarine: F555W (V) Yellow/green: F774W (i) Red: F160W (H) |
| 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. |
