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NGC 1068: Winds of Change: How Black Holes May Shape Galaxies
NGC 1068
NGC 1068
NGC 1068
Visual Description:

  • NGC 1068 is a nearby spiral galaxy containing a black hole at its center that is twice as massive as the Milky Way's.

  • X-ray images and spectra from Chandra show that a million- mile-per-hour wind is being driven from NGC 1068's black hole.

  • This wind has an impact on how the galaxy evolves.

This is a composite image of NGC 1068, one of the nearest and brightest galaxies containing a rapidly growing supermassive black hole. X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are shown in red, optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope in green and radio data from the Very Large Array in blue. The spiral structure of NGC 1068 is shown by the X-ray and optical data, and a jet powered by the central supermassive black hole is shown by the radio data.

The X-ray images and spectra obtained using Chandra's High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer show that a strong wind is being driven away from the center of NGC 1068 at a rate of about a million miles per hour. This wind is likely generated as surrounding gas is accelerated and heated as it swirls toward the black hole. A portion of the gas is pulled into the black hole, but some of it is blown away. High energy X-rays produced by the gas near the black hole heat the ouflowing gas, causing it to glow at lower X-ray energies.

This Chandra study is much deeper than previous X-ray observations. It allowed scientists to make a high-definition map of the cone-shaped volume lit up by the black hole and its winds, and make precision measurements of how the wind speed varies along the cone. Using this data it is shown that each year several times the mass of the Sun is being deposited out to large distances, about 3,000 light years from the black hole. The wind likely carries enough energy to heat the surrounding gas and suppress extra star formation.

These results help explain how a supermassive black hole can alter the evolution of its host galaxy. It has long been suspected that material blown away from a black hole can affect its environment, but a key question has been whether such "black hole blowback" typically delivers enough power to have a significant impact.

NGC 1068 is located about 50 million light years from Earth and contains a supermassive black hole about twice as massive as the one in the middle of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Visual Description:

This is a composite image of NGC 1068, one of the nearest and brightest galaxies containing a rapidly growing supermassive black hole. The galaxy is shown in bright green and orange with a little blue at the center. Compared to familiar everyday objects, the image of NGC 1068 resembles a colorful, swirling vortex with a bright, glowing center. The glowing center is the area arouond a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of the galaxy. X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are shown in red, optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope in green and radio data from the Very Large Array in blue. The spiral structure of NGC 1068 is shown in the X-ray and optical data, and a jet powered by the central supermassive black hole is shown by the radio data. Chandra data show that a strong wind is being driven away from the center of NGC 1068 at a rate of about a million miles per hour.

 

Fast Facts for NGC 1068:
Credit  X-ray (NASA/CXC/MIT/C.Canizares, D.Evans et al), Optical (NASA/STScI), Radio (NSF/NRAO/VLA)
Release Date  March 3, 2010
Scale  Image is 1.0 arcmin across (about 15,000 light years across).
Category  Quasars & Active Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000)  RA 02h 42m 40.70s | Dec -00° 00' 47.60"
Constellation  Cetus
Observation Date  1 pointing on Dec 4, 2000 and 9 pointings between Nov 18 and Dec 5, 2008
Observation Time  122 hours (5 days 2 hours)
Obs. ID  9886, 9108, 9109, 9887332, 9148-9150, 10815-10817, 10823, 10829-10830
Instrument  ACIS
Also Known As M77
References D.Evans et al., 2010, HEAD meeting.
Color Code  X-ray (Red), Optical (Green), Radio (Blue)
Radio
Optical
X-ray
Distance Estimate  About 50 million light years
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