NuSTAR Bringing the High Energy Universe into Focus

 

About the Image

Date
May 9, 2017
ID
nustar170509a
Type
Artwork
Credit
NASA/CXC/M.Weiss/National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

Growing Supermassive Black Holes

Nustar170509a

This illustration compares growing supermassive black holes in two different kinds of galaxies. A growing supermassive black hole in a normal galaxy would have a donut-shaped structure of gas and dust around it (left). In a merging galaxy, a sphere of material obscures the black hole (right).