by Ann » Wed Apr 05, 2017 8:56 am
Today's APOD is a very interesting portrait of a fascinating active galaxy. It looks different than the most common Hubble pictures of NGC 1275, of which one can be seen (at fairly low resolution) at left. For example, there is just a little bit of red in the APOD, which can indeed be due to bright ionized hydrogen.
NGC 1275 in the Perseus Cluster.
Photo: R. Jay GaBany.
NGC really "sticks out like a sore thumb" in the Perseus Cluster! NGC 1275 is a giant elliptical galaxy like several others in the cluster, but it is an elliptical galaxy with a twist - an elliptical galaxy in the process of merging with a spiral galaxy.
In the galaxy cluster NGC 1275, bubbles appear to be generated by high-speed
jets blasting away from the vicinity of the giant galaxy's supermassive black hole.
Individual bubbles seen in the inner regions expand and merge to create
vast plumes at larger distances.
Credit: NASA/CXC/IoA/J.Sanders et al.
One intriguing fact about active galaxies with jets is that they are almost always merging with another galaxy, or else they have recently undergone such a merger.
ESA/HEIC wrote:
In the most extensive survey of its kind ever conducted, a team of scientists have found an unambiguous link between the presence of supermassive black holes that power high-speed, radio-signal-emitting jets and the merger history of their host galaxies. Almost all of the galaxies hosting these jets were found to be merging with another galaxy, or to have done so recently. The results lend significant weight to the case for jets being the result of merging black holes and will be presented in the Astrophysical Journal.
Well, NGC 1275 is most definitely merging, and it is indeed a radio galaxy.
Philip Ball of Nature wrote:
An immense black hole 250 million light years away is blowing the lowest B flat ever heard.
It sits at the hub of a giant galaxy called NGC 1275, in the Perseus cluster of galaxies. The satellite-borne Chandra X-ray Observatory has spotted ripples in the gas dispersed throughout the cluster.
These ripples of high- and low-density gas are like sound waves in air. But their frequency is far lower than the deepest sound audible to the human ear. A keyboard capable of producing the note would have 57 octaves below middle C and would have a keyboard more than 15 metres long.
So does NGC 1275 produce jets? Yes, it would seem so, according to the caption to the NASA/CXC/IoA/J.Sanders et al. picture of NGC 1275. It said,
In the galaxy cluster NGC 1275, bubbles appear to be generated by high-speed jets blasting away from the vicinity of the giant galaxy's supermassive black hole.
So I guess that NGC 1275 is one of those galaxies with jets! It is perhaps good for us that the nearest merging galaxy with jets,
NGC 5128 or Cen A, is fairly small stuff compared with a galaxy like NGC 1275.
Ann
[float=left][img2]https://astronomychamber.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/buraco-negro-gigante.jpg[/img2][c][size=85]NGC 1275. Source:
https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic0817/[/size][/c][/float]Today's APOD is a very interesting portrait of a fascinating active galaxy. It looks different than the most common Hubble pictures of NGC 1275, of which one can be seen (at fairly low resolution) at left. For example, there is just a little bit of red in the APOD, which can indeed be due to bright ionized hydrogen.
[float=right][img2]http://tinyurl.com/mc39ftl[/img2][c][size=85]NGC 1275 in the Perseus Cluster.
Photo: R. Jay GaBany.[/size][/c][/float] NGC really "sticks out like a sore thumb" in the Perseus Cluster! NGC 1275 is a giant elliptical galaxy like several others in the cluster, but it is an elliptical galaxy with a twist - an elliptical galaxy in the process of merging with a spiral galaxy.
[float=left][img2]http://tinyurl.com/n5neswz[/img2][c][size=85]
In the galaxy cluster NGC 1275, bubbles appear to be generated by high-speed
jets blasting away from the vicinity of the giant galaxy's supermassive black hole.
Individual bubbles seen in the inner regions expand and merge to create
vast plumes at larger distances.
Credit: NASA/CXC/IoA/J.Sanders et al.
[/size][/c][/float]
One intriguing fact about active galaxies with jets is that they are almost always merging with another galaxy, or else they have recently undergone such a merger.
[quote][url=https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1511/]ESA/HEIC[/url] wrote:
In the most extensive survey of its kind ever conducted, a team of scientists have found an unambiguous link between the presence of supermassive black holes that power high-speed, radio-signal-emitting jets and the merger history of their host galaxies. Almost all of the galaxies hosting these jets were found to be merging with another galaxy, or to have done so recently. The results lend significant weight to the case for jets being the result of merging black holes and will be presented in the Astrophysical Journal.[/quote]
Well, NGC 1275 is most definitely merging, and it is indeed a radio galaxy.
[quote][url=http://www.nature.com/news/2003/030912/full/news030908-14.html]Philip Ball of Nature[/url] wrote:
An immense black hole 250 million light years away is blowing the lowest B flat ever heard.
It sits at the hub of a giant galaxy called NGC 1275, in the Perseus cluster of galaxies. The satellite-borne Chandra X-ray Observatory has spotted ripples in the gas dispersed throughout the cluster.
These ripples of high- and low-density gas are like sound waves in air. But their frequency is far lower than the deepest sound audible to the human ear. A keyboard capable of producing the note would have 57 octaves below middle C and would have a keyboard more than 15 metres long.[/quote]
So does NGC 1275 produce jets? Yes, it would seem so, according to the caption to the NASA/CXC/IoA/J.Sanders et al. picture of NGC 1275. It said, [i][b][color=#FF0000]In the galaxy cluster NGC 1275, bubbles appear to be generated by high-speed jets blasting away from the vicinity of the giant galaxy's supermassive black hole.[/color][/b][/i]
So I guess that NGC 1275 is one of those galaxies with jets! It is perhaps good for us that the nearest merging galaxy with jets, [url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/ESO_Centaurus_A_LABOCA.jpg/640px-ESO_Centaurus_A_LABOCA.jpg]NGC 5128 or Cen A[/url], is fairly small stuff compared with a galaxy like NGC 1275.
Ann