O Little Death Star Of Bethelehem

The grinches at NASA have aimed their instruments at a jet-producing  giant black hole  that is fortunately light years removed from the Holy Land, to snap the mother of all Debbie Downer Xmas cards using the Chandra X-ray telescope

The galactic center black hole , invisible in the dust lane at the top of the lower galaxy, is beaming gamma rays bright as sunlight at a companion , turning it into a Christmas tree ornament  of  x-ray fluorescence, as it ionizes the bejesus out of the dusty  interstellar medium. The blue streak is of radio noise as it blasts clear out the other side.

The glad tidings are that this 2.5 million parsec distant death star will run out of steam in another million years or so , before it can carve a wider swathe of destruction through the hapless galaxy. Meanwhile, wise men will give it a wide berth. The place is as hot as it looks.The artist's rendition is clearer than the messy reality--

Comments

[exploration xrf]

Hi,
Jets from black holes aren't uncommon in the wider universe, throwing out huge quantities of potentially lethal X-rays and gamma rays. But this particular configuration – estimated to be only about a million years old by astronomers – is rare indeed.

[personal web hosting]

Interesting! Something quantum physics can only fully understand.