Chandra and Hubble collaborate

2003/03/06 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronomia

This image of the galaxy NGC 3079 has been achieved by unifying the measurements of the Chandra and Hubble observatories. The Chandra X-ray Observatory is due to blue regions, while red and green to Hubble. The result is spectacular and significant.

Astronomers have been struck by the filaments seen from the center of the galaxy. These filaments are gas, hot gas (tens of thousand degrees Celsius) and very hot gas (tens of millions of degrees Celsius). After analyzing the gas filaments, astronomers have concluded how they were born. From the center of the galaxy comes a superwind of gas at full speed that causes a hole in the cold gas of the disk of the galaxy. According to astronomers, this phenomenon has generated filaments in tower. The superwind removes the gas parts from the hole wall and heats them.

The superwind arises from the presence of a black hole in the center of the galaxy, or from an explosion of supernova inside it. It is believed that superwind plays an important role in the evolution of the galaxy, regulating the formation of new stars and extending heavy elements to the outer areas of the galaxy.