Galaxy NGC 3783 is gorgeous, with well-defined spiral arms that make it almost the platonic ideal of spiral galaxies. That beauty hides a powerful secret; at its core lies an extremely active supermassive black hole, and it is releasing winds at a speed like nothing we have seen before.
Supermassive black holes are complex beasts. When abundant material reaches them, they can become active. The process of gobbling up interstellar plasma is a messy one, and the plasma gets so hot that it can be flung out in powerful winds.
For the supermassive black hole inside NGC 3783, these winds get to one-fifth of the speed of light: a record-breaking release. Using both the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton and the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), a JAXA-led mission with ESA and NASA participation, researchers tracked a bright X-ray flare from the black hole, and as it faded, the incredible winds appeared.
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Never-Before-Seen Black Hole Blast Clocked At Record-Breaking 60,000 Kilometers Per Second
- by: Dr Alfredo Carpineti
- 2025-12-09
- Source:
IFL Science
- 12/10/2025
Quasar Outflows Illustration Caption: This is an artist's concept of a distant galaxy with an active quasar at its center. A quasar emits exceptionally large amounts of energy generated by a supermassive black hole fueled by infalling matter. Using the unique capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered that blistering radiation pressure from the vicinity of the black hole pushes material away from the galaxy's center at a fraction of the speed of light. Credits: Image - NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI) by NASA Hubble Space Telescope is licensed under Unsplash unsplash.com
