A newly released image from the NASA has captured a supermassive black hole actively feeding at the centre of a giant spiral galaxy located nearly 60 million light-years away from Earth.
The observations were made using the Chandra X-ray Observatory along with data from the James Webb Space Telescope.The black hole i s located at the centre of galaxy NGC 1365, one of the largest spiral galaxies known to astronomers.
Chandra described the process as the black hole ‘feasting at an all-you-can-eat buffet’ because of the enormous amount of matter being consumed.In a post shared alongside the image, the official Chandra account said the black hole is ‘gobbling’ surrounding material while continuing to expand.
Glowing pink circles, and flecks of red, dot the churning spiral galaxy.”NASA had previously studied the same black hole during an eclipse event in NGC 1365.
Scientists had then identified the galaxy as containing an active galactic nucleus, also known as an AGN.According to researchers, material surrounding the black hole forms a disk that continuously feeds it.
A newly released image from the NASA has captured a supermassive black hole actively feeding at the centre of a giant spiral galaxy located nearly 60 million light-years away from Earth. The observations were made using the Chandra X-ray Observatory along with data from the James Webb Space Telescope.The black hole i s located at the centre of galaxy NGC 1365, one of the largest spiral galaxies known to astronomers. NASA said the galaxy stretches across nearly twice the size of the Milky Way and lies in the constellation Fornax.The black hole has a mass nearly two million times greater than the Sun and is continuing to grow by pulling in nearby gas, dust and stellar material. Chandra described the process as the black hole ‘feasting at an all-you-can-eat buffet’ because of the enormous amount of matter being consumed.In a post shared alongside the image, the official Chandra account said the black hole is ‘gobbling’ surrounding material while continuing to expand. It also released a detailed description of the image: “the galaxy is shown at a dramatic angle, as if the bright pink core is gazing past our right shoulder. Swirls of pale, grey-blue material, resembling waves in a dark ocean, spiral toward the radiant pink core, which hangs at our lower left. Glowing pink circles, and flecks of red, dot the churning spiral galaxy.”NASA had previously studied the same black hole during an eclipse event in NGC 1365. Scientists had then identified the galaxy as containing an active galactic nucleus, also known as an AGN.According to researchers, material surrounding the black hole forms a disk that continuously feeds it. Before crossing the event horizon, the gas is heated to millions of degrees to produce powerful X-rays.NASA had earlier explained that NGC 1365 is a barred spiral galaxy. Such galaxies are identified by a long bar-shaped structure made of stars, gas and dust stretching across the centre. The spiral arms extend outward from both ends of the bar, while the structure also channels material into the galaxy’s core which triggers star formation and feeds the central bulge.
