Using the deepest X-ray image ever made with Chandra of Centaurus A, astronomers have found an unusual mark from the giant black hole’s powerful jet striking an unidentified object in its path. A patch of V-shaped emission connected to a bright source of X-rays is located close to the path of the jet from the supermassive black hole (highlighted in the inset). The arms of the “V” are at least about 700 light-years long. In this image, low, medium, and high-energy X-rays from Chandra are colored pink, purple, and blue respectively.

This release features a tactile plate, a physical relief map based on the intensity of Chandra X-ray data, focusing on a collision between a jet of matter blasting out of a distant black hole, and a mysterious, incognito object.

At the center of the plate is a raised dot, encircled by a hazy ring of material. This is the black hole at the heart of the galaxy called Centaurus A. Shooting out of the black hole is a stream of ejected matter. This stream, or jet, shoots in two opposite directions. It shoots toward us, widening as it reaches our upper left, and away from us, growing thinner and less discernible as it recedes toward the lower right, like a trail of smoke. Other pockets of granular gas can be found throughout the plate.

Near our lower right, where the jet is at its thinnest, is a distinct “V-shape”, its arms opening toward our lower right. This mark is understood to be the result of the jet striking an unidentified object that lay in its path. A labeled version of the plate highlights this region, and names the point of the V-shape, the incognito object, C4.

At the distance of Centaurus A, the arms of the V-shape appear rather small. In fact, each arm is at least 700 light-years long. The jet itself is 30,000 light-years long. For context, the nearest star to our Sun is about 4 light-years away.