NASA captures a black hole jet blasting a mysterious object - and scientists have no idea what it is
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They are some of the universe's most unusual and fascinating objects. And now a study suggests that black holes might be even stranger than we thought. NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory has captured vast plasma jets from a supermassive black hole slamming into a mysterious object.
![[As black holes gather matter into an accretion disk, some of this is accelerated and shot out into space in the form of a vast beam of plasma and radiation (artist's impression)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/12/10/93075183-14185081-image-a-6_1733999859811.jpg)
The researchers who made this bizarre discovery say they have no idea what this galactic speedbump might be or why it seems to act so strangely. The hidden object lurks within the galaxy Centaurus A, an irregular swirl of gas and dust approximately 12 million light-years from Earth.
![[The galaxy Centaurus A (pictured) is 12 million light-years from Earth and is notable for the supermassive black hole at its heart which generated a 40,000-light-year plume of plasma]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/12/10/93073301-14185081-image-a-2_1733999751406.jpg)
What makes Centaurus A so special is the supermassive black hole at its heart which shoots radiation and matter 40,000 light-years across the entire width of the galaxy. Using the deepest X-ray images ever taken of the galaxy, the researchers found a V-shaped patch of bright emissions caused by the collision of these jets and some unknown object.
![[Scientists have previously spotted 'jet knots) which show up as bright spots of X-ray radiation in images]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/12/10/93075071-14185081-image-a-8_1733999896109.jpg)
NASA says: 'While the researchers have ideas about what is happening, the identity of the object being blasted is a mystery because it is too distant for its details to be seen, even in images from the current most powerful telescopes.'. Scientists have made a baffling discovery as they spot an unknown object being battered by the plasma jet of a supermassive black hole (pictured).
![[This study found an object known as C4 which had an unusual V-shaped wake stretching out behind it. This is totally different to the elliptical patterns usually produced by objects caught in a black hole's jet]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/12/10/93074307-14185081-image-a-4_1733999772072.jpg)
As black holes gather matter into an accretion disk, some of this is accelerated and shot out into space in the form of a vast beam of plasma and radiation (artist's impression). When a star more than 20 times the size of our sun dies and explodes in a supernova, the remaining matter collapses down into an extremely dense object called a black hole.
![[Scientists think that C4's unique shape might be the product of a massive star. As particles in the jet collide with solar wind from the star, this compresses the jet and ignites the bright X-ray radiation seen in these images]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/12/10/93075069-14185081-image-a-10_1733999907637.jpg)
