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English: Using the newly unleashed observing power of the orbiting Chandra X-ray telescope, astronomers have now imaged the center of our near-twin island universe, finding evidence for an object so bizarre it would have impressed many 60s science fiction writers (and readers). Like the Milky Way, Andromeda's galactic center appears to harbor an X-ray source characteristic of a black hole of a million or more solar masses. Seen above, the false-color X-ray picture shows a number of X-ray sources, likely X-ray binary stars, within Andromeda's central region as yellowish dots. The blue source located right at the galaxy's center is coincident with the position of the suspected massive black hole. While the X-rays are produced as material falls into the black hole and heats up, estimates from the X-ray data show Andromeda's central source to be surprisingly cool - only a million degrees or so compared to the tens of millions of degrees indicated for Andromeda's X-ray binaries.
Date
Source Astronomy Picture of the Day, url= http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000121.html
Author S. Murray, M. Garcia, et al., Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA) NASA Technical Rep.: Jay Norris.
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Public domain This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
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21 January 2000

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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current 20:30, 25 April 2019 Thumbnail for version as of 20:30, 25 April 2019640 × 539 (148 KB)FriedrichKiefererBetter resolution and quality.
21:33, 6 November 2009 Thumbnail for version as of 21:33, 6 November 2009512 × 431 (15 KB)Marshallsumter{{Information |Description={{en|1=Using the newly unleashed observing power of the orbiting Chandra X-ray telescope, astronomers have now imaged the center of our near-twin island universe, finding evidence for an object so bizarre it would have impressed
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