Astronomers observe unexpected black hole storm at Teacup galaxy's core

Astronomers have observed an unexpected black hole storm at Teacup galaxy's core with the help of National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA).

The discovery provides important insight on how supermassive black holes can have a catastrophic effect on the galaxies in which they reside.

Chris Harrison, of The Center for Extragalactic Astronomy at Durham University in the U.K, and his team studied J1430+1339, also known as the "Teacup" owing to its apparent shape.

The Teacup has been identified as possessing an active supermassive black hole in its core, consuming any material that falls too close, but it is also thought to be a galaxy in transition. Once an active star-forming galaxy, it now has the appearance of a giant elliptical galaxy, a sign that star formation may be coming to an end.

It was for this reason that the astronomers are keen to observe galaxies such as these; they are galaxies undergoing huge changes and by understanding black hole activity, the processes driving pan-galactic transformation can be revealed.

The impact of the supermassive black hole in the core of the Teacup was clear, vast radio bright bubbles expanding up to 40,000 light-years protrude from the galaxy's core with smaller-scale jets of plasma accelerating material to around 1,000 kilometers per second (2.2 million miles per hour). This incredibly high level of activity came as a surprise.

Alasdair Thomson, also from Durham these radio observations have revealed that the central black hole was whipping up a storm at the center of this galaxy, by launching powerful jets that are accelerating the gas in the host galaxy and are colliding with the gas on larger scales.

This was the same kind of powerful process they had previously seen in rare, extremely radio-luminous galaxies and the incredible capabilities of the VLA have allowed them to discover that these processes can occur in the more-common, radio-faint galaxies, he further added.

So the Teacup galaxy may have seen the end of its star-forming days, where an uptick in black hole activity spells doom for any would-be star forming regions.

The research is published in the Astrophysical Journal.