Chandra Release - January 9, 2019

Visual Description: Cygnus A

The X-ray and optical image of the galaxy Cygnus A which is in the middle of a galaxy cluster. The image is dominated by a large glowing lavender and white nebula, which resembles a glowing gas cloud shaped like a football. The football shape results from opposing jets from a powerful black hole at the core. The object has a bright white core and is accompanied by two smaller white spots on either end of the football shape. In terms of textures, the purple nebula appears cloudy and diffuse, with large soft contours and slight depressions or cavities. A ricocheting jet blasting from a giant black hole has been captured by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in this image. X-rays from Chandra (purple) are combined with an optical view from the Hubble Space Telescope of the galaxies and stars in the same field of view. Chandra's data reveal the presence of powerful jets of particles and electromagnetic energy that have shot out from the black hole. The jet on the left slammed into a wall of hot gas, then ricocheted to punch a hole in a cloud of energetic particles, before it collided with another part of the gas wall.