Chandra time for IC 2497 and the Voorwerp!
The list of approved targets for Cycle 13 of the Chandra X-ray Observatory is out and on it is our friend IC 2497. We were awarded 114 ksec (almost 32 hours) of time to point Chandra at IC 2497 and peer into its center. What do we want to learn? First, we want to see if the wimpy signal from the central black hole comes more into focus. Chandra has much better spatial resolution than XMM so we will be able to resolve the very center.
We also want to see if there is any impact of the ex-quasar on the surrounding hot gas in the galaxy center. Did the quasar blow bubbles into the gas? Did it start doing so when it “switched state”?
Unfortunately we won’t know for quite a while as Cycle 13 only starts later this year and will go on into 2012. So, stay tuned!
Galaxy Zoo 
Many congratulations, this is fantastic news! I look forward to hearing what Chandra has to say about that black hole – I love X-rays 🙂
This is really exciting news. The Voorwerp is one of the icons of the Zoo community with which I am always proud to be associated. Hope the observation run with throw more light on this mystery object.( July 16, 2011 )