Supermassive Black Hole Blasts Gas Out of Evolving Galaxy Near the Speed of Light

Astronomers have managed to solve a long-standing mystery surrounding the evolution of galaxies. They've found that the supermassive black holes at the cores of some galaxies drive massive outflows of molecular hydrogen gas, which can directly impact the galaxies' evolution.

When a supermassive black hole drives gas out of a galaxy, it also expels most of the cold gas. Cold gas is required to form new stars, so this particular phenomenon can limit the growth of the galaxy.

In order to learn a bit more about the evolution of galaxies, the researchers used the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory in Chile in order to observe the nearby galaxy IC5063. By examining the galaxy, the scientists found that the molecular hydrogen gas in the galaxy was moving at the extraordinary speed of one million kilometers per hour. More specifically, the gas moved at the locations in the galaxy where its energetic jets of electrons were propelled by its supermassive black hole.

"Much of the gas in the outflows is in the form of molecular hydrogen, which is fragile in the sense that it is destroyed at relatively low energies," said Clive Tadhunter, one of the researchers, in a news release. "It is extraordinary that the molecular gas can survive being accelerated by jets of electrons moving at close to the speed of light."

The findings may help researchers further understand the fate of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Our galaxy is slated to collide with the neighboring galaxy, Andromeda, in about five billion years. This collision will cause gas to become concentrated at the center of the system and fuel its supermassive black hole. This, in turn, may lead to the formation of jets that will then eject the remaining gas from the galaxy, like what the scientists viewed with IC5063.

The findings are published in the journal Nature.