NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of a 'runaway' supermassive black hole that left behind a never-before-seen star trail across a great distance.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of a"runaway" supermassive black hole that left behind a never-before-seen star trail across a great distance.
The colossal black hole is estimated to weigh as much as 20 million suns and left behind a"contrail" 200,000 light-years long — twice the diameter of the Milky Way, according to NASA. The capture was accidental, explained Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut."This is pure serendipity that we stumbled across it," he said."I was just scanning through the Hubble image, and then I noticed that we have a little streak.
The black hole is moving at such a fast speed that it doesn't absorb much, instead plowing into gases that are in front of the black hole. The movement of the gases is enough to trigger new star formations, which trail behind the void."We think we're seeing a wake behind the black hole where the gas cools and is able to form stars. So, we're looking at star formation trailing the black hole," van Dokkum said."What we're seeing is the aftermath.
The black hole itself was likely formed from the collision of three supermassive black holes. Researchers speculate that two collided and circled around each other when two galaxies collided around 50 million years ago and then hit another. One of the three broke off in the opposite direction, sending the other combined two speeding through the universe.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope spots runaway black hole creating ‘trail of stars’Using a Hubble Space Telescope, NASA researchers accidentally stumbled upon a supermassive black hole leaving behind a 'contrail' of newborn stars.
Consulte Mais informação »
How are Hubble Space Telescope images made?The science behind all those pretty pictures.
Consulte Mais informação »
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope revealing new details of the early universeNASA's James Webb Space Telescope is on a mission to find the first galaxies and stars. Scott Pelley gets an inside look at what the telescope has discovered about the universe.
Consulte Mais informação »
Journey to the Edge of Time: James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Most Distant GalaxiesAstronomers report most distant known galaxies, detected and confirmed by JWST. An international team of astronomers has discovered the earliest and most distant galaxies confirmed to date using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The telescope captured light emitted by these galaxies
Consulte Mais informação »
'Uranus has never looked better': James Webb Space Telescope captures new image of ice giantThe James Webb Space Telescope captured an image of Uranus like its never been seen before. Uranus, the seventh planet from the sun, has 13 known rings and 11 of them can been seen in the new photograph, NASA reported.
Consulte Mais informação »