6.
Magnetic monster
NGC 1275
This stunning image of NGC 1275 was taken using
Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys in July and
August 2006. It provides amazing detail and resolution
of the fragile filamentary structures, which show up as
a reddish lacy structure surrounding the central bright
galaxy NGC 1275. These filaments are cool despite being
surrounded by gas that is around 55 million degrees
Celsius hot. They are suspended in a magnetic field
which maintains their structure and demonstrates how
energy from the central black hole is transferred to the
surrounding gas.
By observing the filamentary structure, astronomers were,
for the first time, able to estimate the magnetic field’s
strength. Using this information they demonstrated how
the extragalactic magnetic fields have maintained
the structure of the filaments against collapse caused
by either gravitational forces or the violence of the
surrounding cluster during their 100-million-year lifetime.
The filaments seen here can be a gaping 200 000 lightyears long. The entire image is approximately 260 000
light-years across.
Credit: NASA, ESA and Andy Fabian
(University of Cambridge, UK)