The New Nation - Internet Edition

BBC Online

A powerful jet of particles from a "supermassive" black hole has been seen blasting a nearby galaxy, according to the US space agency (Nasa).

Galaxies have been seen colliding before, but it is the first time this form of galactic violence has been witnessed by astronomers.

This could have a profound effect on any planets in the jet's path and could also trigger a burst of star formation.

The findings are to be published in the Astrophysical Journal.

They were obtained using Nasa's space-based Chandra X-ray Observatory, its Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope, as well as the Very Large Array (VLA) and Merlin radio telescopes on the ground.

The event is occurring in a system called 3C321, which lies 1.4 billion light-years from Earth. It contains two galaxies in orbit around one another which are in the process of merging.

Most, if not all, galaxies - including our own Milky Way - are thought to host supermassive black holes at their galactic centres. A handful of these galaxies eject powerful jets from the vicinities of their black holes, and are known as radio galaxies - because jets are very "visible" at radio wavelengths.

The larger of the two galaxies in 3C321 - dubbed the "death star galaxy" by the astronomers - has a jet emanating from the vicinity of the black hole at its centre.