A black hole in its host galaxy spotted 9.9 billion lightyears away
Black holes are known for their deadly effect on star formation, but this image suggests they may sometimes boost star making.
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A composite of radio, optical and X-ray data, this image shows a black hole within a host galaxy (the pink spot near the centre) around 9.9 billion lightyears away.
A gigantic bubble of hot gas generated by the black hole is thought to have expanded and swept through four neighbouring galaxies, creating a shockwave that compressed cool gas, causing stars to form over one million lightyears away.
Image stats
Observatories Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, Very Large Array
Release date 26 November 2019
Image credit NASA/CXC/INAF/R. Gilli et al.; Radio NRAO/VLA; Optical: NASA/STScI
Authors
Jane Williamson is a science journalist and writer.
