Astronomers capture black hole eruption spanning 16 times the full Moon in the sky - ICRAR

Astronomers capture black hole eruption spanning 16 times the full Moon in the sky

Centaurus A is a giant elliptical active galaxy 12 million light-years away. At its heart lies a black hole with a mass of 55 million suns. This image shows the galaxy at radio wavelengths, revealing vast lobes of plasma that reach far beyond the visible galaxy, which occupies only a small patch at the centre of the image. The dots in the background are not stars, but radio galaxies much like Centaurus A, at far greater distances. Credit: Ben McKinley, ICRAR/Curtin and Connor Matherne, Louisiana State University

Astronomers have observed the nearest active supermassive black hole to Earth at radio wavelengths in unprecedented detail. The emission is powered by a central black hole in the galaxy Centaurus A, about 12 million light years away.