NASA | MSFC | SAO | Chandra X-ray Observatory | 2017 Jun 26
[c][imghover=http://chandra.si.edu/photo/2017/arp299/arp299_w11.jpg]http://chandra.si.edu/photo/2017/arp299/arp299_w33.jpg[/imghover]Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Crete/K. Anastasopoulou et al,What would happen if you took two galaxies and mixed them together over millions of years? A new image including data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory reveals the cosmic culinary outcome.
NASA/NuSTAR/GSFC/A. Ptak et al; Optical: NASA/STScI[/c][hr][/hr]
Arp 299 is a system located about 140 million light years from Earth. It contains two galaxies that are merging, creating a partially blended mix of stars from each galaxy in the process.
However, this stellar mix is not the only ingredient. New data from Chandra reveals 25 bright X-ray sources sprinkled throughout the Arp 299 concoction. Fourteen of these sources are such strong emitters of X-rays that astronomers categorize them as "ultra-luminous X-ray sources," or ULXs.
These ULXs are found embedded in regions where stars are currently forming at a rapid rate. Most likely, the ULXs are binary systems where a neutron star or black hole is pulling matter away from a companion star that is much more massive than the Sun. These double star systems are called high-mass X-ray binaries. ...
This new composite image of Arp 299 contains X-ray data from Chandra (pink), higher-energy X-ray data from NuSTAR (purple), and optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope (white and faint brown). Arp 299 also emits copious amounts of infrared light that has been detected by observatories such as NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, but those data are not included in this composite. ...
A deep Chandra observation of the interacting star-forming galaxy Arp 299 - K. Anastasopoulou et al
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