Chandra Release - October 22, 2002

Visual Description: NGC 720

This image features an elliptical galaxy named NGC 720, which is a type of galaxy with an elliptical or oval shape. The galaxy's structure can be described as having a slight bright bulge at the center and a surrounding halo. The galaxy is shown in two panels with X-ray data in orange on the left, compared with optical data in yellow on the right.  The Chandra X-ray Observatory image of NGC 720 shows the galaxy enveloped in a slightly flattened, or ellipsoidal, cloud of hot gas that has an orientation different from that of the optical image of the galaxy. The flattening is too large to be explained by theories in which stars and gas are assumed to contain most of the mass in the galaxy.