Chandra Release - May 10, 2004

Visual Description: M87

The Chandra image features a long-exposure image of the giant elliptical galaxy M87.   This galaxy is one of the most massive and luminous objects in the universe, located about 50 million light-years away from Earth. In this image, the galaxy appears as large, elongated bright yellow-orange smudges on a darker orange background. The texture of the galaxy has a hazy, pixelated appearance. A bright, almost white central jet is surrounded by nearby bright arcs and dark cavities in the multimillion degree gas of M87. Much farther out, at a distance of about fifty thousand light years from the galaxy's center, faint rings can be seen and two spectacular plumes extend beyond the rings. These features, together with radio observations not shown, are dramatic evidence that repetitive outbursts from the central supermassive black hole have been affecting the entire galaxy for a hundred million years or more. Two faint horizontal streaks across the image are instrumental artifacts that can occur for bright sources.