APOD: 2026 October 19 – Treble Clef: Unusual X-ray Hot Radio Source
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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.
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
Yesterday’s Image APOD: 2026 October 18 – Sonified: Eagle Nebula Pillars