A precessing jet from an active galactic nucleus drives gas outflow from a disk galaxy (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

A precessing jet from an active galactic nucleus drives gas outflow from a disk galaxy

Caption

Morphological structure of the galactic outflow in VV 340a. This artistic rendering illustrates a multi-phase galactic outflow driven by a central active galactic nucleus. The white helix represents a precessing radio jet, a rotating beam of high energy plasma launched from the magnetosphere of the central supermassive black hole. The red filaments represent highly ionized coronal gas which results from the collision of the jet with the ambient gas of the host galaxy. The blue filaments represent ionized gas being ejected from the galaxy at high speeds and extending up to 15 kiloparsecs. As the jet propagates outward, it energizes and propels the galaxy’s gas into a high velocity outflow, altering the galaxy’s future evolution.

Credit

W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko

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