Youngest Black Holes In Our Galaxy are Created By Rare Explosions -NASA's Chandra

Supernova Remnant W49B


New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory suggest a highly distorted supernova remnant may contain the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way galaxy. The remnant appears to be the product of a rare explosion in which matter is ejected at high speeds along the poles of a rotating star.

The remnant, called W49B, is about a thousand years old as seen from Earth and located about 26,000 light-years away. 

The new results on W49B, which were based on about two-and-a-half days of Chandra observing time, appear in a paper in Sunday's issue of the Astrophysical Journal. The other co-author was Sarah Pearson from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. 

The highly distorted supernova remnant shown in this image may contain the most recent black hole formed in the Milky Way galaxy. The image combines X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in blue and green, radio data from the NSF's Very Large Array in pink, and infrared data from Caltech's Palomar Observatory in yellow. 

The remnant, called W49B, is about a thousand years old, as seen from Earth, and is at a distance about 26,000 light years away. 


For more Visit NASA's Chandra Suggests Rare Explosion Created Our Galaxy's Youngest Black Hole

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