It’s called Centaurus A, and huge jets of plasma shooting from its central supermassive black hole have slammed into something as they travel into intergalactic space.
It also has a very active supermassive black hole and is bursting with star formation, one of the closest galaxies to us exhibiting both behaviors.
The activity of the black hole is so strong that jets of particles blasting from its polar regions punch into intergalactic space, creating huge lobes of radio emission as they do so.
And one of the most detailed looks yet at the black hole outflows in radio waves has revealed some strange, never-before-seen features.
When we describe a supermassive black hole as active, that means that it is actively accreting matter from a huge disk of material that swirls around it, like water going down a drain.
Astronomers recently faced an intriguing mystery from one of the most peculiar galaxies in the Milky Way’s neighborhood.
The massive plasma jets that are erupting from Centaurus A’s central supermassive black hole have collided with an object as they move into intergalactic space.
Astronomers are unsure of what it is. Since no other collision in Centaurus A’s jets produces the same V-shaped X-ray emission seen streaming from C4, whatever is located here is going to be interesting. We’ve named it C4.
Situated approximately 12 million light-years away from the Milky Way, Centaurus A is referred to as a peculiar galaxy. Its peculiar shape with noticeable dust lanes, a collection of orbiting dwarf galaxies arranged neatly around the galactic plane, and a structure that might be the result of two galaxies colliding and merging are just a few of its many peculiarities.
It is also one of the nearest galaxies to us that is exploding with star formation and has a very active supermassive black hole. The black hole’s activity is so intense that massive lobes of radio emission are produced as jets of particles erupting from its polar regions pierce intergalactic space.
Because of this, Earth closely monitors Centaurus A. Additionally, a thorough examination of the radio waves from black hole outflows has uncovered some odd, previously unobserved characteristics.
We should probably start by describing how these outflows occur. Supermassive black holes are actively accreting matter from a massive disk of material that swirls around them, much like water flowing down a drain, when they are said to be active.
However, some of the swirling material does not fall past the event horizon. A portion of it is thought to be redirected and accelerated along the magnetic field lines surrounding the black holes’ periphery to their poles, where it is propelled into space with immense force, producing jets of particles that can occasionally extend millions of light-years along their length.
Centaurus A is one of the best labs for a detailed study of these jets because of its proximity. Scientists found the odd V-shaped feature, convergent on a bright point-like source of emission, when they used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to get the closest look yet at the high-energy light produced by Centaurus A’s jets.
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As it moves through space at nearly the speed of light in a vacuum, it appears as if the jet has collided with something and created outflows; each arm of the V is about 700 light-years long.
What that something is is unknown. It could be a knot of turbulence or a massive star. In any case, the interaction between the jet and the object that blows material away from the point source could produce the V’s arms. This material glows in X-rays because it interacts with the jet as well.
However, the V structure is difficult to explain even in this model. Although it is expected that the outflows from the point source would follow the jet’s flow, this is only the case for one arm. An oblique angle that is hard to explain is how the other appears. Particularly since other collisions inside the jets don’t have distinct structures like the V of C4 and instead show up as radio blobs.
We have no answers yet. To determine what is causing the odd V-shaped X-rays in Centaurus A’s jets, more observations at various wavelengths might be necessary. Answers are likely to come soon, though, since we’re likely to keep staring at our strange neighbor.
