Quasar's Belch

In a press release from the Gemini Observatory on 23^rd of February in 2011, it was revealed that they discovered an extreme, large-scale galactic outflow in the super-massive black hole at the center of the galaxy Mrk 231, which is, I believe, merging with another large galaxy—exciting this black hole. As far as I understand it, outflow is a process that takes place while the black hole is acquiring mass as a quasar. The outflows “carry away energy and material, suppressing further growth.” Apparently small-scale outflows had been seen before, but nothing on this scale: the power of this outflow is pretty much blowing this massive galaxy apart with its negative feedback look (a process I don’t understand, regrettably), which is self-destructive because the black hole will soon be unable to get the gas and dust it needs to sustain itself. This process also limits the material that this galaxy can get to make new generations of stars. You’d think this is a moot issue because it’s getting blown apart, but it’s highly relevant, really, because the stars are just fine; it’s just the dust and gas in this galaxy that are getting pushed away. Without this material, they really cannot reproduce.

Scientists are excited about this finding because it’s a fabulous example of outflows caused by negative feedback from black holes like this. It’s relatively close to Earth, and beautifully shows the example of a merging large galaxy that’s “shedding its cocoon and revealing a very energetic central quasar.”

I think this is incredible. The concept of black holes within itself is terrifying, though wonderful at the same time; knowing more about supermassive black holes and the impact they have on their galaxies gives us deeper understanding about our own galaxy.

Link: http://www.gemini.edu/node/11614