APOD: 2026 October 19 – Treble Clef: Unusual X-ray Hot Radio Source
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 19 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Treble Clef: Unusual […]
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Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Treble Clef: Unusual X-ray Hot Radio Source
Explanation: Explanation : What is Treble Clef? This unusual radio structure extends over 2 million light-years and resembles a common musical symbol — but has its visible light hidden by our own Milky Way Galaxy. Examined in 2004, the nature of VLSS J0318.9+5755, dubbed Treble Clef, remained unknown. Recent observations by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and eROSITA, however, have led to the hypothesis that the Treble Clef central cloud of charged particles was originally expelled by a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy. After the radio emission from those particles faded, they may have been reinvigorated by a shock wave from the collision of two clusters of galaxies. The featured composite image shows radio emission in red, while recently discovered X-rays are shown in blue. Unusual objects like Treble Clef give humanity unexpected clues about how whole clusters of galaxies interact as well as the general evolution of our universe.
Tomorrow’s picture: backwards rainbow
| Date: | October 19, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Credit: | X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF-IRA/A. Botteon et al.; Infrared: UKIDSS–GPS; Radio: ASTRONLOFAR; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |
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