
Chandra’s observation of A2104 revealed six bright X-ray sources due to active supermassive black holes located in red galaxies. This surprised astronomers, because powerful X-ray emission from black holes requires large supplies of interstellar gas to feed the black holes, and red galaxies — composed of older stars – are thought to have a sparse supply of gas. One possibility is that a galaxy can retain a supply of gas and dust deep in its core near the supermassive black hole, even in the harsh environment of a galaxy cluster.
