NASA
The object hit by the jet could be a massive star, and the phenomenon proves that “even matter ejected by black holes can collide with objects in the dark”.
The cosmic drama captured by the Chandra X-ray Observatory unfolded in Centaurus A (Cen A), a galaxy located an impressive 12 million light years from Earth, tells a.
At its center is a super-massive black hole that launches powerful jets of high-energy particles that extend across the entire galaxy. However, in this latest observation, scientists discovered something unprecedented: the jet appears to have collided with an unidentified objectleaving behind a distinct V-shaped mark in the X-ray emissions.
“This is not the first time that astronomers have seen a black hole jet hitting other objects in Cen A. There are several other examples where a jet appears to be hitting objects — possibly massive stars or gas cloudswrites to .
Astronomers have been studying Cen A for a long time because it has one in its center, which launches enormous jets that stretch across the entire galaxy. The black hole launches this jet of high-energy particles not from its interior, but from the intense gravitational and magnetic fields that surround it.
However, the new C4 stands out from these examples because it is V-shaped in X-rayswhile other obstacles in the jet’s path produce elliptical patches in the X-ray image.
In the latter, published in The Astrophysical Journal In October, researchers determined that the jet is — at least in certain spots — moving almost to speed of light. Using Deepest X-ray image ever taken of Cen Athey then discovered the V-shaped emission patch linked to a bright X-ray source, something that has never been seen before in this galaxy.
This cosmic collision comes to remember the dynamic and often violent processes that occur in the Universe, writes Study Finds. Objects that move at nearly the speed of light they can interact unexpectedly, creating mysterious phenomena.
