X-ray photos show bright ring of black holes

A pair of galaxies like Arp 147 ", taken by space telescopes Hubble, is in itself a rarity. For it is not often that a spiral galaxy (a disk-shaped galaxy with a pronounced spiral pattern) with an elliptical galaxy (a galaxy with uniform light distribution without conspicuous structures) collided. What's left of the clash in 430 million light years away from Earth remained is a giant, mostly blue ring.

The collision has caused, according to the U.S. space agency NASA an expanding wave of star formation. This fascinating ring in the sky owes its brilliance to the strong radiation of young, massive stars - but only a "short" life span of a few million years. After the explosion remain neutron stars and black holes.

While the telescope "Hubble" only the range of visible light and thus could hold the sparkling blue ring reveal, now new records of the X-ray telescope "Chandra" is another startling discovery: In the ring of "Arp 147" has nine X-ray sources. The objects on the captured light so bright that it can be, according to NASA only around black holes. The astronomical objects radiate not from itself but by the sucked from them matter that heats up so much that to them in the X-ray light begins to shine, before disappearing into the black holes.

With additional infrared images of the Space Telescope "Spitzer" and "Galaxy Evolution Explorer, NASA concluded that the star-forming galaxies have achieved within the ring," Arp 147 "about 15 million years ago culminated needs.