A Greedy Black Hole Eats Through Two Giant Cosmic Spirals
Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole at the heart of the Circinus galaxy, feeding on two enormous spiral arms of gas.
This rare cosmic phenomenon shows how the universe's hungriest objects gather their meals and how wasteful they can be.
The discovery, led by Wout Goesaert from Leiden University in the Netherlands, utilized data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile.
The team's results, soon to be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, provide a vivid look at how material flows toward black holes.
The Circinus galaxy, located about 13 million light-years from Earth, was only discovered in 1977.
Astronomers have discovered that a supermassive black hole at the heart of the Circinus galaxy is feeding through two enormous spiral arms of gas.
Author's summary: Astronomers discover a black hole feeding on two giant cosmic spirals.