Chandra Release - February 3, 2010

Visual Description: SDSS 1254+0846

The composite image of the pair of quasars in merging galaxies, SDSS J1254+0846 showcases two bright bluish-green objects that appear to be interacting with each other, which are actually two supermassive black holes in the process of merging. They look like googly eyes with the left eye slightly larger.  On either side of the eyes are curved brownish-yellow arms and a sprinkling of various yellow and white blobs and dots.  The Chandra X-ray Observatory image shows the pair of quasars in blue, located about 4.6 billion light years away, but separated on the sky by only about 70 thousand light years. These bright sources, collectively called SDSS J1254+0846, are powered by material falling onto supermassive black holes. The optical image from the Baade-Magellan telescope in Chile, in yellow, shows tidal tails -- gravitational-stripped streamers of stars and gas -- fanning out from the two colliding galaxies.