They are some of the strangest and most fascinating things in the universe.
And now research suggests that black holes may be stranger than we thought.
NASAThe Chandra X-ray Observatory has captured massive jets of plasma from a black hole slamming into a mysterious object.
The researchers who made the surprising discovery say they don’t know what the galactic speed might be or why it seems so strange.
A hidden object lurks within the galaxy Centaurus A, a cloud of gas and dust about 12 million light-years from Earth.
What makes Centaurus A so unique is the supermassive black hole at its heart that shoots radiation 40,000 light-years across the entire width of the galaxy.
Using the deepest X-ray images ever taken of the galaxy, the researchers discovered a V-shaped patch of bright gas caused by the collision of these jets with other unknown objects.
NASA says: ‘Although researchers have ideas about what is happening, the identity of the exploding object is a mystery because it is too far away for its details to be visible, even in images from today’s most powerful telescopes.’
Scientists have made a surprising discovery when they see an unknown object being hit by the plasma jet of a supermassive black hole (pictured).
When black holes collect material in an accretion disk, some of it is accelerated and thrown into space as a large beam of plasma and radiation (photo by the artist)
When a star 20 times the size of our sun dies and explodes in a supernova, the remaining material collapses into a supermassive object called a black hole.
These mysterious voids have such a strong gravitational pull that nothing, not even light, can escape their pull.
When matter and light fall into a black hole like the liquid surrounding the plug hole, it forms a large circular ring called an accretion disk.
However, not everything ends up beyond the point of no return which is called the event.
Instead, some of the material is accelerated along the magnetic lines of black holes and shot out from the poles at incredible speeds.
Although scientists know why these jets are formed, their relative speed and power and their great power make their true nature a mystery.
Located close to Earth, Centaurus A has long been a great vantage point for observing these amazing jets in action.
In previous studies, NASA observed several ‘jet knots’ within Centaurus A’s large plumes.
The galaxy Centaurus A (pictured) is located 12 million light-years from Earth and is notable for the supermassive black hole at its heart that produced a 40,000-year-old plasma liquid.
Scientists have previously observed jet knots) that appear as bright X-ray spots on images.
These are large areas of turbulence that appear as bright spots in the X-ray spectrum.
But, in a recent study Dr David Bogensberger, a physicist from the University of Michigan, and his co-authors found a fact that did not agree with the usual situation.
Dr Bogensberger and his co-authors wrote: ‘Close to the inlet, we have found a source with an unusual shape. We call it C4.’
‘It appears to have two streams of material moving away from it at two different angles, forming a ‘V’ shape behind it.’
The arms of V are about 700 years long – 140 times the distance from Earth to its nearest star.
The V-energy X-ray radiation behind C4 is unusual because all other obstacles in the jet’s path produce only circular droplets.
NASA suggests that the mysterious object at the heart of this cosmic wake may be a massive star, alone or with a partner.
The researchers believe that particles from the black hole’s jet can collide with the strong solar wind that the star produces.
If that were the case, the turbulence would increase the amount of gas in the jet, igniting the X-ray emission seen in the Chandra images.
However, the unique nature of C4 raises some problems with this simple explanation.
The research found an object known as C4 that had an unusual V-shaped shape on its back. This is in stark contrast to the elliptical shape that is usually formed by material caught in a dark jet
Scientists think that the unique shape of C4 may have been created by a massive star. When particles from the jet collide with the solar wind from the star, this compresses the jet and ignites the bright X-rays seen in these images.
If there was an object in the plane, astronomers would expect to see an X-ray trail moving very close to the plane’s direction, like a wake around a boat moving inland.
The lower arm of the V fits the picture, but the upper arm is difficult to describe because it is at a greater distance from the jet.
This means that, whatever this object is, it may contain very unusual properties that astronomers have not seen anywhere else in the universe.
NASA says: ‘Astrophysicists are trying to figure out why C4 has a different shape after contact, but it could be related to the type of object the plane is hitting or the direct impact of the jet.’
However, for now, the identity of this strange object remains a mystery.
