The black hole monster of galaxy NGC2663 may be one of the greatest supermassive black holes in the universe.
According to The Conversation, astronomers from Western Sydney University in Australia have used the ASKAP telescope system of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to identify this fascinating supermassive black hole.
ASKAP, with its network of 36 connected radio dishes, forms a unique super telescope located in the pristine region of the Western Australian desert and is one of humanity’s leading astronomical observation tools.
Graphic depicting a stream of material ejected from a supermassive black hole – (Image: THE CONVERSATION)
The radio data collected by ASKAP reveals an incredible jet of material, measuring over 1 million light-years long, stretching across a region of space that is 93 million light-years away from us.
This jet emanates from the center of the galaxy NGC2663, a typical elliptical galaxy, super dense with a star count ten times that of the Milky Way galaxy that contains Earth.
This jet of material is a stream of ultra-high energy jets ejected by the central black hole of the galaxy. While astronomers have observed many jets, none have been as monumental as this one.
Not only is it a large mass of material, but it also has a significantly disproportionate size compared to the parent galaxy of the black hole that produces it – up to 50 times. This stream of material also carries many “giant shock diamonds” – diamond-like bright points flowing within the material stream as it is ejected, shining more brightly than the rest.
This indicates that the supermassive black hole ejecting it must be extremely large and powerful, potentially one of the largest black holes in the entire universe.
Additionally, this effect is enhanced by the dense material between galaxies surrounding NGC2663, interacting with the jet to create a spectacular impact.
All of this forms a “cycle”: Material between galaxies enters the galaxy, gets consumed by the central black hole, and the black hole ejects this jet into intergalactic space… These processes help galaxies in the universe to grow.
This research has just been approved by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
