Hundreds of Black Holes Discovered

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Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
 
Video imagery:

·         SDSS optical image including galaxy J011522.18: Legacy Surveys/D. Lang (Perimeter Institute))
·         Side-by-side X-ray and optical image of J011522.18: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/D. Kim et al.; Optical/IR: Legacy Surveys/D. Lang (Perimeter Institute)
·         Side-by-side X-ray and optical image of J155627.74: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/D. Kim et al.; Optical/IR: Legacy Surveys/D. Lang (Perimeter Institute)
 
Writer: Leah Ramsay
Designer: Leah Hustak, Joseph Olmsted
Science review: Dr. Frank Summers
Education review: Jim Manning
Music from Music for Non-Profits
 

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Animation of the universe. Nebulas glow and star systems surround the top of Jupiter. Text, News From the Universe.
 
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January 30, 2023. Hundreds of black holes discovered.
 
Photo of space with hundreds of bright spots.
 
Text, A survey has revealed about 400 previously unidentified supermassive black holes using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
 
Researchers compared the Chandra X-ray data with visible-light images from the Sloan Digitized Sky Survey.
 
Image, SDSS J 0 1 1 5 2 2 dot 18+00151 8.5. A purple circle is around a small bright spot.
 
Text, Researchers focused on a class of objects known as "XBONGs" (X-ray bright, optically normal galaxies).
 
Thick gas and dust around these black holes blocks most optical light, but X-rays are able to pass through to be detected by Chandra.
 
Image, SDSS J155627 dot 74+241758.9. A purple circle is around a small bright spot next to a yellow circle around a second small bright spot.
 
Text, The survey results are helping astronomers conduct a more accurate census of the black holes that exist in the centers of most large galaxies.
 
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This news was brought to you in part by the Chandra X-Ray Center in Cambridge, MA.