VISUAL ARCHIVE / IMAGE STORY
Gas in the Wake of a Rising Cavity
A conceptual illustration of gas cooling in the wake of a rising cavity.
A conceptual illustration of gas cooling in the wake of a rising cavity. Observations support a connection between black hole outbursts and the conditions that allow some gas to condense.
THE OBSERVATION
What we can actually see.
The research follows emission from ionized neon and other tracers into the cluster core. Different analyses estimate star formation over different averaging windows, with rates expressed as solar masses per year. An inferred cooling-flow rate describes gas moving through temperature ranges and is a separate quantity. Spatial relationships among cavities, cooling gas and young stars motivate a physical feedback interpretation.
THE ILLUSTRATION
What the artwork imagines.
A conceptual illustration of gas cooling in the wake of a rising cavity. Observations support a connection between black hole outbursts and the conditions that allow some gas to condense. The viewpoint, illumination, colors and simultaneous arrangement are artistic choices. This is a cinematic illustration, not a direct instrument image or a quantitative reconstruction of every feature.
FROM THE ILLUSTRATED ARTICLE
The story that inspired it.
The Phoenix Cluster’s central galaxy forms stars amid powerful black-hole feedback. Infrared observations follow gas through an intermediate temperature range, making the competition between heating and condensation more visible. This frame focuses on gas in the wake of a rising cavity, within the complete illustrated article and its source-linked research context.
Read The Black Hole That Couldn’t Stop the StarsCHECK THE RECORD
The image interprets the research below. Follow the original work for the measurements and limits behind the scene.
Directly Imaging the Cooling Flow in the Phoenix Cluster Cold Gas and Star Formation in the Phoenix Cluster with JWST Anatomy of a Cooling Flow: The Feedback Response to Pure Cooling in the Core of the Phoenix Cluster NASA/Chandra 2025-02-13 research accountOTHER IMAGE STORIES
Keep looking.
Stars Amid Phoenix’s Central Outburst
A Cluster Found from Antarctica
The Mark Shared by Titan and PlutoEXPLORE IN 3D / MAP G-01
Explore a nearby black-hole teaching model
Use Sagittarius A* as a nearby comparison. The model is not a reconstruction of the Phoenix Cluster or a little red dot.
Open Sagittarius A* map