An artist’s rendition of the supermassive black hole on the run through the universe.
The celestial phenomenon draws in matter with a powerful gravitational force through a process calledaccretion.
This powerful force can evendestroy starsby ripping them apart.
An artist’s rendition of the supermassive black hole on the run through the universe. (Photo:NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STScI))
NASA has recently discovered a surprising twist on this classic narrative.
Yale University professor Pieter van Dokkum spotted a streak of light in a Hubble Telescope archival image.
They form a trail across 200,000 light-years.
This Hubble Space Telescope archival photo captures a curious linear feature that is so unusual it was first dismissed as an imaging artifact from Hubble’s cameras. But follow-up spectroscopic observations reveal it is a 200,000-light-year-long chain of young blue stars. A supermassive black hole lies at the tip of the bridge at lower left. The black hole was ejected from the galaxy at upper right. It compressed gas in its wake to leave a long trail of young blue stars. Nothing like this has ever been seen before in the universe. This unusual event happened when the universe was approximately half its current age. (Photo and caption:SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, Pieter van Dokkum (Yale)/IMAGE PROCESSING: Joseph DePasquale (STScI))
The trail leads from a compact star-forming galaxy to a bright … knot.
According to the paper, a mixture of star formation and fast shocks makes up the trail.
The black hole is moving at a whopping 4 million mph across space.
This unusual speed may contribute to the black hole forming stars rather than destroying everything it encounters.
So, we’re looking at star formation trailing the black hole,statesvan Dokkum.
What we’re seeing is the aftermath.
Like the wake behind a ship we’re seeing the wake behind the black hole.
He adds, How it works exactly is not really known.
Thought its discovery is now drawing attention, the unique black hole is not a recent creation.
A third black hole eventually joined the party, bumping one inside out.
But follow-up spectroscopic observations reveal it is a 200,000-light-year-long chain of young blue stars.
A supermassive black hole lies at the tip of the bridge at lower left.
The black hole was ejected from the galaxy at upper right.
It compressed gas in its wake to leave a long trail of young blue stars.
Nothing like this has ever been seen before in the universe.
This unusual event happened when the universe was approximately half its current age.
Two’s company, and three’s a crowd… even when it comes to black holes!
