The Shadow of the Supermassive Black Hole in the Center of the Milky Way!

Top: The main panel of this graphic contains X-ray data from Chandra (blue) depicting hot gas that was blown away from massive stars near the black hole. Two images of infrared light at different wavelengths from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope show stars (orange) and cool gas (purple). These images are seven light years across at the distance of Sgr A*. A pull-out shows the new EHT image, which is only about 1.8 x 10-5 light years across (0.000018 light years, or about 10 light minutes). (Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; IR: NASA/HST/STScI. Inset: Radio (EHT Collaboration))

Bottom: The time-averaged SED for the compact Sgr A* source during the 2017 EHT run is shown as black open circles and an NIR upper limit. Luminosities for the X-ray flare observed on 2017 April 11 are indicated as black circles filled with light purple. Table 2 lists the 2017 values in units of flux and luminosity. Colored background points display the historic SED of Sgr A* in flaring and quiescent states, with the light yellow polygons indicating the range of previously observed variability (Credit: EHT paper II).

Broadband Multi-wavelength Properties of M87 during the 2017 Event Horizon Telescope Campaign

Top: Compilation of the quasi-simultaneous M87 jet images at various scales during the 2017 campaign. The instrument, observing wavelength, and scale are shown on the top-left side of each image. Note that the color scale has been chosen to highlight the observed features for each scale, and should not be used for rms or flux density calculation purposes. The location of the Knot A (far beyond the core and HST-1) is shown in the top figures for visual aid.

Bottom: Observed broadband SED of M87 quasi-simultaneous with the EHT campaign in 2017 April with fluxes measured by various instruments highlighted with different colors and markers. Note that only every other point in the X-ray spectrum is plotted here and that one Fermi-LAT upper limit is missing, off to the upper right of the figure. For the mm-radio VLBI, the upper limits on emission size for several representative frequencies are labeled (see text for details). An illustration of the resolved flux differences depending on spatial resolution is shown by the comparison of the differing EHT and ALMA-only 230 GHz fluxes and size limits.

Measuring the density structure of an accretion hot spot

Left: This image depicts a young star named GM Aur eating up gas and dust particles of a protoplanetary disk, which is represented by the green material surrounding the bright star. (Credit: Image by M. M. Romanova)

Right:Three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of accretion. a , A three-dimensional view of matter at a density level of 5.3 × 10⁻¹³ g cm⁻³ (blue) flowing onto the star (yellow) along selected magnetic-field lines (red) at 3.13 P_star (where P_star is the stellar rotation period). Distance is measured in stellar radii (R_star). Only the central region (42 R_star) is shown. b-d, The corresponding hot spot (b), along with slices in the x–z (c) and x–y (d) planes; the colour scale denotes the density. Here μ is the magnetic moment, Ω is the rotation axis and ρ is the density.

Deep Chandra Observations of the Compact Starburst Galaxy Henize 2-10: X-Rays from the Massive Black Hole

HST image of Henize 2–10. The inset shows our new 160 ks Chandra observation with VLA radio contours from Reines et al. (2011) and has dimensions 6'' x 4'' (∼265 pc × 175 pc).

Flows of X-ray gas reveal the disruption of a star by a massive black hole

Left: Artist's impression of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy PGC 043234 accreting mass from a star that dared to venture too close. This phenomenon is known as a tidal disruption event (Credit: ESA/C. Carreau).

Right: The high-resolution Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray spectra of ASASSN-14li reveal blueshifted absorption lines. The best-fit photoionized absorption model for the outflowing gas detected in each spectrum is overlayed in red and selected strong lines are indicated. The lower displays the residuals before (cyan) and after the addition of the photionized absorption model.

A Rapidly Spinning Black Hole Powers the Einstein Cross

Left: Sample Chandra image of the Eintein cross (aka Q 2237+0305, obsid: 14514) in the 0.35 – 7.0 keV band, where the 4 lensed images are clearly resolved. The green circles denote our source extraction regions (r = 0.5''), while the position of the lensing galaxy (z = 0.0395) is marked by the cross.

Center: The final best fit solar abundance self consistent relativistic reflection model (pha(zpha(zpo+zgauss+relconv∗reflionx))) to the summed Chandra spectrum of the Einstein cross supermassive black hole with residuals. The illuminating power-law is indicated in green, the reflected emission in blue and the narrow Fe K line in cyan, with the sum indicated in red. The black hole is determined to be rapidly spinning, i.e., a* = 0.73+0.05-0.02 at the 90% confidence level.

Right: Contour plot of the spin parameter (a*) calculated via the steppar command, for the reflection model plotted in the center panel (black) and for a similar model with a variable iron abundance (red). The 90%, 3σ, 4σ and 5σ confidence intervals are indicated by the dashed lines, demonstrating the robust nature of the spin constraint, i.e., a* > 0.65 (4σ).

RX J1131-1231: A Rapidly Spinning Gravitationally Lensed Quasar at z=0.658

Multiple images of a distant quasar are visible in this combined view from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. The Chandra data were used to directly measure the spin of the supermassive black hole powering this quasar (a* > 0.66, 5σ confidence level). Mouseover to show the position of the quasar images and the lensing galaxy. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Michigan/R.C.Reis et al; Optical: NASA/STScI.

G306.3-0.9: A New ~ 2500 yr old supernova remnant

Left: This composite of supernova remnant G306.3–0.9 merges Chandra X-ray observations (blue), infrared data acquired by the Spitzer Space Telescope (red and cyan) and radio observations (purple) from the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The image is 20 arcminutes across, which corresponds to 150 light-years at the remnant's estimated distance (8 kpc). Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Michigan/M. Reynolds et al; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Radio: CSIRO/ATNF/ATCA. (Large version 10 MB)

Right: A wider view places G306.3–0.9 in context with star-formation regions in southern Centaurus. Chandra X-ray observations (blue), Spitzer infrared data (red, cyan), and radio observations (purple) from the Australia Telescope Compact Array are merged in this composite. The image is one degree across, which corresponds to 450 light-years at the remnant's estimated distance. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Michigan/M. Reynolds et al; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Radio: CSIRO/ATNF/ATCA. (Large version 36 MB)