'Eye of Sauron' - amazing picture

By Ben Hurst on Mar 11, 11 05:04 PM

It is easy to see why astronomers called this object the "Eye of Sauron", after the all-seeing symbol of evil in The Lord of the Rings.

In fact it is the centre of an active galaxy 43 million light years away from Earth.

Scientists believe powerful X-rays generated by a super-massive black hole produced the bright blue "pupil" of the eye.

The red halo around the "pupil" is made up of hydrogen atoms.

Images from the Chandra X-ray space telescope and the one-metre Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope on La Palma in the Canary Islands were combined to create the stunning picture.

The X-ray emissions from the centre of spiral galaxy NGC 4151 are thought to be caused by matter falling into the black hole.

Black holes are regions where gravity is so strong nothing that gets too close can escape from it.

As dust and gas are sucked into a black hole they become hot enough to blast out X-rays.
NGC 4151 is one of the nearest galaxies to Earth to contain an actively-growing black hole.

It offers astronomers one of the best chances to study the interaction between a super-massive black hole and the surrounding gas of its host galaxy.

Research on the "Eye of Sauron" appeared in the August issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The new image was released last night by the American space agency Nasa's Chandra X-ray Centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.