This image, taken by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory in 2012, shows an extraordinary outburst from a black hole.
This false-color image, taken by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory in 2012, shows an extraordinary outburst from a black hole – where its X-ray output increased at least 3,000 times – in the galaxy M83. Chandra observed what is called a ULX, or ultraluminous X-ray source. The remarkable behavior of this ULX in M83 provides direct evidence for a population of older, volatile, stellar-mass black holes.
Learn more about this black hole and view other images.
Image Credit: Optical: ESO/VLT; Close-up – X-ray: NASA/CXC/Curtin University/R.Soria et al., Optical: NASA/STScI/Middlebury