Chandra Release - March 10, 2011

Visual Description: NGC 4151

The X-ray, optical and radio image of the spiral galaxy NGC 4151 features a bright, oval shaped object in the center, surrounded by a large oval shaped, textured halo. The central object appears to be an intense source of light, while the surrounding halo resembles a colorful and patchy swirling cloud.  The colors of the image are predominantly hot pink-red and bright blue, with little flashes of gold. This composite image shows the central region of the spiral galaxy NGC 4151.  The image has been dubbed the "Eye of Sauron" by astronomers for its similarity to the eye of the malevolent character in "The Lord of the Rings". In the "pupil" of the eye, X-rays (colored in blue) from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are combined with optical data (yellow) showing positively charged hydrogen from observations with the 1-meter Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope on La Palma. The pink-red around the pupil shows uncharged hydrogen detected by radio observations with the NSF's Very Large Array. This uncharged hydrogen is part of a structure near the center of NGC 4151 that has been distorted by gravitational interactions with the rest of the galaxy, and includes material falling towards the center of the galaxy. The yellow blobs around the red ellipse are regions where star formation has recently occurred.