Supermassive Black Hole at the Heart of NGC 5548 (IMAGE)

ESA/Hubble Information Centre

Supermassive Black Hole at the Heart of NGC 5548

Caption

This is the galaxy known as NGC 5548. At its heart, though not visible here, is a supermassive black hole behaving in a strange and unexpected manner. Researchers detected a clumpy gas stream flowing quickly outwards and blocking 90 percent of the X-rays emitted by the black hole. This activity could provide insights into how supermassive black holes interact with their host galaxies.

Credit

ESA/Hubble and NASA. Acknowledgement: Davide de Martin.

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