A giant jet from a monster black hole has blasted a mysterious object in deep space. Video

NASA's Chandra X-ray Space Telescope has detected a giant cosmic collision from a supermassive monster black hole at the center of the Centauri A (Cen A) galaxy, located about 12 million light-years from Earth. Astronomers have seen black hole jets exploding into other objects before, but this event is different from the previous ones.

The discovery came in the form of a strange mark in the bright jet. The new study also showed that at several points along the galaxy, a jet of high-energy particles from this black hole was moving at a speed close to light, Space.com writes.

Although the jet of the supermassive black hole Cen A has been well studied in the past, the Chandra data showed something new and unexpected in this outflow, the researchers say. The team of scientists detected radiation that is associated with a bright V-shaped source, which has been labeled "C4," and it is located near the point of origin of the black hole jet.

According to NASA, the "arms" of this V-shaped radiation are about 700 light-years long. This is about 175 times the distance between the Sun and the closest star to the Solar System, Proxima Centauri.

What is known about black hole jets

Scientists emphasize that the jets do not come from the black holes themselves, but from their surroundings. These cosmic titans are marked by a boundary called the "event horizon," beyond which even light cannot move fast enough to escape from being absorbed.

While astronomers have a good understanding of the physics that triggers the jet from the supermassive black holes at the center of the Centauri A galaxy, they don't know which object was blasted this time. After all, it is too far away for even the most powerful modern telescopes to distinguish in detail what the stirrups hit, experts say.

This is not the first time that scientists have seen a black hole jet blow up an object in space. Previous targets have included gas clouds and even unlucky stars, experts recall.

However, the new collision differs from these events, experts emphasize, because it created elliptical "drops" in X-ray images, i.e., a v-shaped structure.

Now, the team of scientists will try to determine why this particular collision created a strange shape. The study will be conducted with the help of Chandra, the only X-ray telescope that is currently sensitive enough to see this collision.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote that the hungriest black hole was discovered: a monstrous void absorbs matter at a speed 40 times higher than the theoretical limit.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!