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| Small galaxy, big supermassive black hole | Mar 28, 2017 8:24 PM PDT | url |
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Added 1 new A* page:Was 49 is a binary galaxy, in which a larger galaxy is merging with a smaller one. This type of interaction doesn't appear to be unusual in our local universe, but something else about the pair is: using data from NASA's NuSTAR X-ray space telescope, scientists have found that the smaller galaxy has a significantly more massive central supermassive black hole than expected, and it is active—far more active than the supermassive black hole at the center of the larger galaxy that encircles it. NASA's article on this says that normally in a galactic merger, the "gravitational interactions create a torque that funnels gas into the larger galaxy's central black hole"—but that doesn't appear to be happening in this case; in Was 49, the smaller galaxy is eating the larger one! The scientists are now trying to find an explanation for the unusually high mass of the smaller galaxy's supermassive black hole.
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