Chandra Ploughs Up a Snake In Hydra A
Hydra A is a galaxy cluster that is 840 million light years from Earth (redshift = .054). The cluster gets its name from the strong radio source, Hydra A, that originates in a galaxy near the center of the cluster. Optical observations show a few hundred galaxies in the cluster. Chandra X-ray observations reveal a large cloud of hot gas that extends throughout the cluster. The gas cloud is several million light years across and has a temperature of about 40 million degrees in the outer parts decreasing to about 35 million degrees in the inner region.
Multi-wavelength Images: (*Images not to scale) | ||
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X-ray
![]() NASA/CXC/SAO Jpg (160 k) Tiff (3.8 mb) PS (3.4 mb) |
Optical
![]() La Palma/B. McNamara Jpg (28 k) |
Radio
![]() Greg Taylor, NRAO Jpg (31 k) |
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The X-ray image of the cluster of galaxies Hydra A features a bright pink and purple glow in the center of a dark blue background. In terms of texture, the image appears somewhat grainy or pixelated, which gives the image a slightly fuzzy appearance, but it does not significantly detract from the overall visual impact of the image. The bright, purple-pink glow at the center stands out as the most prominent feature. This glow has a heart shape with a larger pink glow in an almost H shape beyond it. Hydra A is a galaxy cluster that is 840 million light years from Earth. Chandra X-ray Observatory data reveal a large cloud of hot gas that extends throughout the cluster. The gas cloud is several million light years across and has a temperature of about 40 million degrees in the outer parts decreasing to about 35 million degrees in the inner region.