Images by Date
Images by Category
Solar System
Stars
Exoplanets
White Dwarfs
Supernovas
Neutron Stars
Black Holes
Milky Way Galaxy
Normal Galaxies
Quasars
Galaxy Clusters
Cosmology/Deep Field
Miscellaneous
Images by Interest
Space Scoop for Kids
4K JPG
Multiwavelength
Sky Map
Constellations
Photo Blog
Top Rated Images
Image Handouts
Desktops
Fits Files
Image Tutorials
Photo Album Tutorial
False Color
Cosmic Distance
Look-Back Time
Scale & Distance
Angular Measurement
Images & Processing
AVM/Metadata
Image Use Policy
Web Shortcuts
Chandra Blog
RSS Feed
Chronicle
Email Newsletter
News & Noteworthy
Image Use Policy
Questions & Answers
Glossary of Terms
Download Guide
Get Adobe Reader
More Information
Black Holes
X-ray Astronomy Field Guide
Black Holes
Questions and Answers
Black Holes
Chandra Images
Black Holes
Related Podcasts
Tour: NASA Telescopes Discover Record-Breaking Black Hole
Download Image

More Information

More Images
Artist's Illustration of Black Hole Moving Through Milky Way
(Credit: STScI/A.Feild/Office of Public Outreach)


Related Images
XTE J1550-564
XTE J1550-564
(03 Oct 02)
SS 433
SS 433
(11 Dec 02)
XTE J1118+480:
Chandra Pinpoints Edge Of Accretion Disk Around Black Hole


XTE J1118+480
Credit: NASA/CfA/J.McClintock & M.Garcia

This Chandra X-ray Observatory image is a spectrum of a black hole, which is similar to the colorful spectrum of sunlight produced by a prism. The X-rays of interest are shown here recorded in the bright stripe that runs rightward and leftward from the center of the image. These X-rays are sorted precisely according to their energy with the highest-energy X-rays near the center of the image and the lower-energy X-rays farther out. The spectrum was obtained by using the Low Energy Transmission Grating (LETG), which intercepts X-rays and changes their direction by amounts that depend sensitively on the X-ray energy. The LETG is activated by swinging an assembly into position behind the mirrors and in front of the instrument that detects the X-rays. The assembly holds 540 gold transmission gratings; when in place behind the mirrors, the gratings intercept the X-rays reflected from the telescope. The bright spot at the center is due to a fraction of the X-ray radiation that is not deflected by the LETG. The spokes that intersect the central spot and the faint diagonal rays that flank the spectrum itself are artifacts due to the structure that supports the LETG grating elements

A team of scientists led by Jeffrey McClintock (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) used the LETG in conjunction with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) detector to observe the black hole binary system known as XTE J1118+480 for 27,000 seconds on April 18, 2000. This "X-ray nova," so-called because it undergoes occasional eruptions followed by long periods of dormancy, contains a Sun-like star orbiting a black hole.

Fast Facts for XTE J1118+480:
Credit  NASA/CfA/J.McClintock & M.Garcia
Scale  Image is across.
Category  Black Holes
Coordinates (J2000)  RA 11h 18m 10.80s | Dec +48° 02´ 12.30"
Constellation  Ursa Major
Observation Dates  April 18, 2000
Observation Time  8 hours
Obs. IDs  1701
Color Code  Intensity
Instrument  LETG
Distance Estimate  5,000 light years
Release Date  May 07, 2001