| AGN- Active Galactic Nuclei: AGN have a small, extremely bright core at their center, emitting far more energy than typical galaxies across the infrared, radio, UV, and X-ray spectrums. This excess energy results from a supermassive black hole at the center, accreting material from the galaxy’s dense core. As material spirals into the black hole, it forms a hot accretion disk due to gravitational and frictional forces. |
- Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) for the first time has found evidence of an interaction between a radio jet emitted from a special kind of galaxy called Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and the surrounding interstellar medium, situated at a distance of about 14 million light years.
- A radio jet is material that is spewed from the center of some galaxies almost at the speed of light and sends out strong radio waves.
- This discovery challenges the belief that only large galaxy jets regulate star formation.
- Evidence of this interaction was observed in the dwarf galaxy NGC 4395, with the interaction occurring at a scale of 30 light-years around the black hole.
- The research team used data from various telescopes and space observatories, including Chandra (X-ray), Gemini-North and Hubble (optical), ALMA (submillimeter), and Very Large Array (radio).
- They also used data from India’s AstroSat’s UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT).
- They discovered a bipolar jet structure with its core centered at the black hole. This research offers new insights into the behaviour of black holes in smaller galaxies.
Dig Deeper: Read about India’s UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT).
