Archive · 12 Jun 2025
Chandra Telescope Detects Powerful Black Hole Jet
Imagine a black hole far, far away, like a giant vacuum cleaner in space.
This black hole shoots out a super-fast beam of energy called a jet.
Scientists used a special telescope called Chandra to see this jet, which is traveling incredibly fast, almost the speed of light!
This jet is so powerful it's like the black hole is shouting across billions of light-years.
The jet became visible by bumping into leftover light from the Big Bang.
Scientists had to use special math to understand how bright the jet looks to us.
NASA's Chandra detected a powerful jet from a black hole.
The black hole exists 11.6 billion light-years from Earth, during the 'cosmic noon'.
The jet stretches over 300,000 light-years and moves near the speed of light.
The jet was detected by colliding with cosmic microwave background radiation.
Scientists used a model to account for relativistic effects on jet brightness.
- Who
- NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, along with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), detected the jet. Research was led by Jaya Maithil.
- What
- A powerful jet from a black hole was detected.
- When
- The event occurred during the 'cosmic noon', roughly three billion years after the Big Bang.
- Where
- The black hole is located 11.6 billion light-years from Earth.
- Why
- The jet became detectable due to its interaction with cosmic microwave background radiation.
- Observatory
- NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
- Black Hole Distance
- 11.6 billion light-years
- Jet Length
- Over 300,000 light-years
- Speed of Particles
- Approaching 99% of light speed
- Event Period
- Cosmic noon
- Published In
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Lead Researcher
- Jaya Maithil