Chandra Release - August 10, 2016

Visual Description: IC 2497

The image features a galaxy called IC 249, and a nearby cloud of gas.  The dominant colors in the image are faded purple and neon green, with the galaxy appearing as a luminous purple softened spiral shape in the top center of the image. The cloud is visible below it, appearing as an irregular green nebula-like structure and has been nicknamed the Green Blob.  The objects float on a dark background providing strong contrast. In this composite image of IC 2497 and the Green Blob, X-rays from Chandra are colored purple and optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope are red, green, and blue. The distance of the Green Blob from IC 2497 is large enough that we may be observing a delayed response, or an echo of past activity, from a rapidly growing black hole lighting up the gas cloud.