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PIA23687: Animation of Black Hole Disk Flare in OJ 287
This animation shows two massive black holes in the OJ 287 galaxy.
 Mission:  Spitzer Space Telescope 
 Instrument:  Spitzer Space Telescope 
 Product Size:  5120 x 2880 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  JPL 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA23687.tif (25.34 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA23687.jpg (648 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

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This animation shows two massive black holes in the OJ 287 galaxy. The smaller black hole orbits the larger one, which remains stationary in the animation and is surrounded by a disk of gas. When the smaller black hole crashes through the disk, it produces a flare brighter than 1 trillion stars. But the smaller black hole's orbit is elongated and moving relative to the disk, causing the flares to occur irregularly.

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Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Image Addition Date:
2020-04-28