A vicious cycle

VERY LARGE TELESCOPE, CHANDRA X-RAY OBSERVATORY, ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY, 6 NOVEMBER 2018

There’s a misconception that black holes are simply huge cosmic suckers, when in fact these stellar behemoths can also propel material outwards. Here, cold gas (yellow) is falling towards a black hole at the centre of a galaxy in galaxy cluster Abell 2597. This process generates energy powerful enough to launch jets of plasma (red) out into the cosmos.