M87, NGC 4486, Elliptical Galaxy, Composite
This image shows the eruption of a galactic "super-volcano" in the massive galaxy M87, as witnessed by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and NSF's Very Large Array (VLA). At a distance of about 50 million light years, M87 is relatively close to Earth and lies at the center of the Virgo cluster, which contains thousands of galaxies. The cluster surrounding M87 is filled with hot gas glowing in X-ray light (shown in blue) that is detected by Chandra. As this gas cools, it can fall toward the galaxy's center where it should continue to cool even faster and form new stars. However, radio observations with the VLA (red-orange) suggest that in M87 jets of very energetic particles produced by the black hole interrupt this process. These jets lift up the relatively cool gas near the center of the galaxy and produce shock waves in the galaxy's atmosphere because of their supersonic speed. The interaction of this cosmic "eruption" with the galaxy's environment is very similar to that of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland that occurred in 2010. Release date August 18, 2010. Volcano image taken by Omar Ragnarsson.
Size: 3600px × 3484px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2010, 21st, 87, 4486, active, agn, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, black, body, celestial, century, composite, cosmic, cosmography, cosmological, cosmology, cosmos, deep, elliptical, eruption, evolution, galactic, galaxies, galaxy, heavenly, hole, image, m87, messier, ngc, nucleus, object, science, sky, space, super-volcano, supergiant, supermassive, universe, virgo
