Typical of [ http://chandra.harv…galaxy_clusters.html ] large galaxy clusters billions of [ http://www.anzwers.…] light-years away, Abell 2597 features hundreds of galaxies embedded in [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] a cloud of multimillion degree gas which glows in x-rays. This Chandra Observatory [ http://chandra.harv…top_ten.html ] x-ray image shows [ http://chandra.harv…] the hot gas in this cluster’s central regions and also reveals two large dark cavities within the x-ray glow; one below and right of center, the other above and left. Not a comment on dental health, Abell 2597’s cavities [ http://chandra.harv…press_010802.html ] are about 60,000 light-years across. They are thought to be remnants of a 100 million year old explosion originating from a supermassive black hole at the cluster’s core. But the dim ghost cavities [ http://xxx.lanl.gov…] are not completely empty or they would have collapsed long ago. Instead they are likely filled with hotter gas, high energy particles, and magnetic fields and are moving away from the cluster center, like bubbles rising in champagne. Over the life of a galaxy cluster [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] such explosions may happen over and over, creating a series of cavities which transport magnetic fields [ http://www.ohiou.ed…] away from the cluster center. In fact, radio observations [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] suggest another explosion has since occurred in the center of Abell 2597.

Credit and Copyright:
B. McNamara (Ohio U. at Athens [ http://plato.phy.oh…]) et al., CXC [ http://chandra.harv…], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]
keyword:
x-ray
keyword:
galaxy cluster
keyword:
abell 2597
facet_where:
Ohio
facet_where:
Athens
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
original url:
http://antwrp.gsfc.…
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap020116
Image ID:
105041
Resolution Size:
3
Format:
JPEG
Media Type:
Image
File Name:
abell2597_cxc_big.jp g
Width:
646
Height:
646

Tags: Abell 2597's Cosmic Cavities, galaxy, nasa, photo, space, star, Universe

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