Using infrared instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have observed a twisted disk of hot gas swept up in the gravitational whirlpool of Centaurus A. Like a wheel wobbling around a loose axle, this "active galactic nucleus" fires into space an energetic jet of material, glowing in X-rays and radio waves blasted from the black hole at over 10,000,000 miles per hour.
A Galaxy Feeds a Black Hole
The Hubble Space Telescope has viewed a twisted disk of hot gas swept up in the gravitational whirlpool of Centaurus A, a galaxy near the Milky Way. Centaurus A is in the process of consuming another smaller galaxy, in turn, feeding a supermassive black hole hidden at its center.
