Black Hole Jet Runs Into 'Unidentified Object' In Chandra X-Ray Telescope Observations

Space.com

A black hole jet from the Centaurus A galaxy is "hitting something along its path," that is baffling astronomers. The Chandra X-ray Telescop team takes you on a tour of the system.   Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart

Transcript

00:00Visit Chandra's Beautiful Universe

00:05Centaurus A

00:07Even matter ejected by black holes can run into things in the dark.

00:15Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have found an unusual mark

00:20from a giant black hole's powerful jet striking an unidentified object in its path.

00:26The discovery was made in a galaxy called Centaurus A, or Cene for short,

00:31which is located 12.4 million light-years from Earth.

00:36Astronomers have long studied Cene because it has a supermassive black hole in its center

00:40sending out spectacular jets that stretch out across the entire galaxy.

00:46In this latest study, researchers determined that the jet is, at least in certain spots,

00:51moving at close to the speed of light.

00:54Using the deepest X-ray image ever made of Cene, they also found a patch of V-shaped emission

00:59connected to a bright source of X-rays, something that had not been seen before in this galaxy.

01:06Called C4, this source is located close to the path of the jet from the supermassive black hole

01:11and is highlighted here.

01:13The arms of the V are at least about 700 light-years long.

01:18For context, the nearest star to Earth is about 4 light-years away.

01:23While the researchers have ideas about what is happening,

01:26the identity of the object being blasted is a mystery

01:29because it is too distant for details to be seen,

01:32even in images from the current most powerful telescopes.

01:36The incognito object being rammed may be a massive star,

01:40either by itself or with a companion star.

01:43And we'll see you afterwards.

01:45Transcription by CastingWords

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