In a groundbreaking discovery, astronomers have observed the largest energy jets ever detected, shooting from a supermassive black hole in a galaxy located 7.5 billion light-years from Earth. These colossal jets, spanning 23 million light-years, are roughly 140 times the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy, making them the longest ever recorded in the universe.
The discovery was made using the LOFAR (Low-Frequency Array) radio telescope, a network of antennas centered in the Netherlands. These jets, formed by subatomic particles and magnetic fields moving at near-light speeds, extend far beyond their parent galaxy and have been named “Porphyrion” after a giant from Greek mythology.
The jets, composed of electrons and positrons, were created by violent events around the black hole as it devoured surrounding material. They have been sustained for nearly a billion years, indicating the black hole continues to consume matter at a rate equivalent to one solar mass annually.
“Jet systems like Porphyrion are among the most energetic spectacles since the Big Bang,” said Martijn Oei, an astrophysicist at Caltech and lead author of the study published in Nature. These jets carry energy and magnetic fields into the vast voids of the cosmic web, potentially influencing the large-scale structure of the universe.
The jets’ energetic output is equivalent to trillions of stars, comparable to the most cataclysmic cosmic events such as galaxy cluster mergers. The researchers believe these jets could heat interstellar gas, halt the formation of new stars, and impact planets within their reach.
“The key finding is that jets from black holes can, under the right circumstances, extend as far as the universe’s major cosmic structures,” said Oei. “This means individual black holes can have an influence that reaches far beyond the galaxy they reside in.”
The Milky Way’s own supermassive black hole remains dormant, lacking the same powerful jets. However, this discovery deepens our understanding of how black holes shape the universe, with far-reaching implications for cosmic evolution.
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