A massive jet of material shooting out from a black hole located 12 million light-years away has encountered an enigmatic obstacle in space, leaving astronomers intrigued about its nature. This phenomenon was captured in an ultra-deep X-ray image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, the most detailed X-ray image ever recorded of the Centaurus A galaxy. The enigmatic blockage, known as C4, is releasing a lot of X-rays. The latest research about Centaurus A and this unexpected discovery has been published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Black holes are regions in spacetime with such intense gravitational pull that nothing, not even light, can escape beyond their event horizon. The masses of these cosmic giants range from a few times the Sun’s mass to billions of solar masses. However, black holes are not just silent absorbers; they often unleash powerful jets of particles traveling close to the speed of light. These jets can trigger dramatic cosmic events, including stellar explosions. Some jets are extraordinarily vast—recently, astronomers discovered jets 140 times wider than the Milky Way.
The recent Chandra image reveals that C4 has a distinctive V-shaped structure, which appears to result from the jet colliding with this unknown object. While the arms of this V-formation are small compared to the black hole’s immense jet, they still stretch an impressive 700 light-years each. For context, the jet itself spans 30,000 light-years, and the distance to the nearest star from the Sun is about four light-years. These scales serve as a stark reminder of the sheer enormity of the universe.
Although black hole jets have previously been observed impacting objects like gas clouds or stars, C4’s irregular V-shape suggests something unique about this interaction. It might be influenced by the nature of the object the jet is striking or the specific dynamics of their encounter.
Black hole jets, among the most striking cosmic phenomena, continue to surprise researchers with their complexities. While the true nature of C4 may remain elusive for now, astronomers are actively investigating, seeking to unravel this latest celestial mystery.