Hundreds of Black Holes Discovered

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

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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.