Pictor A galaxy, Chandra X-ray image

Credit: NASA/CXC/University of Hertfordshire/M. Hardcastle et al/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Caption: Pictor A galaxy, Chandra X-ray image. This active galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its centre. Material falling onto the black hole is turned into an enormous beam or jet (blue line) of particles, travelling at nearly the speed of light into intergalactic space. The jet produces a hotspot at right (bright dot). This galaxy is 500 million light years from Earth in the constellation of Pictor. This image shows X-ray data (blue) from the orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO). This image was published in 2016. For the X-ray data combined with radio data, see image C035/6635.

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