Discover the secrets of elliptical galaxies

2002/06/05 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronomia

In the latest images taken by the Chandra X ray observatory on the platform, clues appear that help decipher the evolution of elliptical galaxies.

It seems that in the elliptical galaxies studied at the observatory there are more black holes and neutron stars than previously thought. This means that the past of these galaxies was very active, as black holes and neutron stars are the imprint of the great and brilliant stars that were before.

In addition, they have seen that most binary star systems with black holes are located in certain places in galaxies. Binary systems with black holes are very rare and so far it was thought that they were very dispersed by galaxies. However, thanks to Chandra's images, it has been shown that these special systems are more abundant than expected and originate in certain areas of galaxies, in groups of globular stars. These areas are very dense, so there seems to be more possibilities to create such systems.

To see the binary system formed by the black hole and a star, click here.