File:Caldwell 53 (50291843072).jpg
Caldwell 53 is perhaps most notable for the supermassive black hole that lurks at its center. One of the ways astronomers are able to estimate the mass of a black hole is by observing the temperature of the hot gas being dragged toward it. Using this method, astronomers estimate that the black hole within Caldwell 53 has a mass roughly one billion times the mass of our Sun. This estimation means that Caldwell 53 hosts the closest billion-solar-mass black hole to Earth.
This image of Caldwell 53 is a composite of observations taken by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys at infrared and visible wavelengths. Scientists used information gathered from these observations to constrain the temperature and density of the gas that surrounds the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy.
Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Erwin (University of Alabama); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
For Hubble's Caldwell catalog website and information on how to find these objects in the night sky, visit: <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-s-caldwell-catalog" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-s-caldwell-catalog</a>Licensing
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by NASA Hubble at https://flickr.com/photos/144614754@N02/50291843072. It was reviewed on 16 December 2020 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0. |