Black hole that produces fuel for star formation discovered

NEW YORK: In a surprising discovery, astronomers have observed a black hole producing cold, starmaking fuel from hot plasma jets and bubbles.

The researchers found that powerful radio jets from the black hole — which normally suppress star formation — are stimulating the production of cold gas in the galaxy’s extended halo of hot gas.

This newly identified supply of cold, dense gas could eventually fuel future star birth as well as feed the black hole itself, said the study published in the Astrophysical Journal. The researchers studied a galaxy at the heart of the Phoenix Cluster, an uncommonly crowded collection of galaxies about 5.7 billion light-years from Earth.

The team analysed observations of the Phoenix cluster gathered by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), a collection of 66 large radio telescopes spread over the desert of northern Chile.

Researchers believe that new findings may help to explain Phoenix cluster’s exceptional star-producing power. They may also provide new insight into how supermassive black holes and their host galaxies mutually grow and evolve.

“With ALMA we can see that there’s a direct link between these radio bubbles inflated by the supermassive black hole and the future fuel for galaxy growth,” said study lead author Helen Russell, an astronomer with the University of Cambridge in Britain.

“This gives us new insights into how a black hole can regulate future star birth and how a galaxy can acquire additional material to fuel an active black hole.”