Image from the LOFAR radio telescope
Image from the LOFAR radio telescope
This image, taken by the European LOFAR (LOw Frequency ARray) radio telescope, shows the longest known jet pair from a black hole. Co-discoverer Aivin Gast from the University of Oxford named the two plasma jets after the giant Porphyrion from Greek mythology. They extend over 23 million light years, which corresponds to the size of 140 Milky Way galaxies in a row. The galaxy that harbours the supermassive black hole can be seen as a dot in the centre of the image. The largest blob-like structure near the centre is another smaller jet system.
Credit:
LOFAR Collaboration / Martijn Oei (Caltech)