Black-Hole Jets in Central Galaxy of Phoenix Cluster

Astronomers using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) have detected plasma jets coming from a supermassive black hole in the central galaxy of the Phoenix cluster, a huge group of galaxies located 5.9 billion light-years away in the constellation of Phoenix.

Galaxy clusters contain thousands of galaxies of all ages, shapes and sizes. Typically, they have a mass of about one million billion times the mass of the Sun and form over billions of years as smaller groups of galaxies slowly come together.

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Image credit: NAOJ

An artist’s impression of plasma jets coming from a supermassive black hole in the central galaxy of the Phoenix cluster.

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Galaxy clusters are the largest objects in the universe held together by gravity and contain a gigantic black hole in their center.

Astronomers usually find these black holes tamp down the formation of new stars by pumping heat and energy out into space.

The supermassive black hole at the center of the Phoenix galaxy cluster is not playing this usual role.

Instead, outbursts from the central black hole are actually helping more stars to form.