Chandra Release - June 11, 2024

Visual Description: Supermassive Black Hole Survey


On the left is an X-ray image from XMM-Newton combined with optical light. Pinpoints of light, mostly in shades of gold, blue, and green, are scattered over the black background of space. One point of blue light, a supermassive black hole, is outlined within an illustrated, gray square. The square has lines protruding to our right that connect it with an artist's concept image of a black hole.

The X-ray and optical image on our left, the image containing the square, slowly dissolves as we move toward the right into an image of a supercomputer model of gas density across enormous distances. The model shows a multitude of teal-colored dots and filaments that are converging in some places, forming larger balls of teal-colored light. The patterns appear somewhat similar to the neural networks imaged in the brains of humans and other animals.