The Unexpected
The Unexpected
Solar
Normal Stars
Carina Nebula
SNR
Supermassive
Milky Way
Galaxies
Clusters

Expected & Detected

High-resolution images of the hot gas in clusters of galaxies that would provide

insight into: how clusters are formed, the heating and cooling of the gas in clusters,

and the amount and distribution of dark matter that is holding the clusters together.
Unexpected

Discovered ripples in the hot gas in the Perseus cluster. These ripples are likely

caused by sound waves produced by repetitive explosions every few million years

that are generated by matter falling toward a supermassive black hole in the center

of the cluster. This explosive activity could be preventing the formation of millions of

stars in the cluster.
Unexpected

A Chandra image of a distant galaxy cluster revealed two vast cavities in the

cluster's hot gas (blue). These cavities are filled with energetic particles (red), and

were created by a titanic explosion generated as a supermassive black hole swall-

owed matter with a mass equal to that of 300 million suns over the course of millions

of years.
Unexpected

Combined data from Chandra and optical telescopes showed that a high-speed

collision between galaxy clusters produced a detectable separation of normal,

visible matter (pink) from most of the matter in the clusters (blue). This result

provides direct evidence that dark matter exists and is the dominant form of

matter in the universe.

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