The observations of the Chandra space telescope that operates in the X region of the electromagnetic spectrum have allowed for the first time to obtain a detailed picture of a pair of quasars in a galactic structure formed after the collision and subsequent merger of two distant galaxies more than 4 and a half billion light years away in the constellation Virgo. The two quasars are separated by a distance of only 70 thousand light years, and optical image superimposed on that obtained from Chandra X-band are clearly visible tidal tails of stars and galaxies following material torn from the fight. Quasars are home to intense X emissions that are generated when large amounts of material are sucked through the holes blacks at the center of galaxies, where available along the accretion disk, emitting radiation heats X. The study, conducted by a team of researchers led by Paul Green, has confirmed the hypothesis that as a result of collisions between galaxies, quasars are powered by large amounts of gas by significantly increasing their business. " Quasars are among the brightest objects that are known - says Green - but although they were discovered more than one million is the prima volta che ne vengono osservati du così vicini ."
Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Green et al.), Optical (Carnegie Obs./Magellan/W.Baade Telescope/J.S.Mulchaey et al.)
0 comments:
Post a Comment