NGC 1700

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Chandra X-ray
Observatory Center
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
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NGC 1700: An elliptical galaxy about 160 million light years from Earth.
(Credit: NASA/Ohio U./T.Statler et al.)

Caption: Chandra's image of NGC 1700 shows a flattened oval of multi-million degree gas. Low-energy X-ray data reveals a giant inner disk 90,000 light years in diameter. An analysis shows that it is rotating and appears to be cooling. The existence of a large, rotating disk of hot gas suggests that NGC 1700 was created by the merger of a rotating spiral galaxy and an elliptical galaxy containing hot gas.

Scale: Image is 3.9 arcmin per side

Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS Image

CXC operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
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