A group of European astronomers led by UK scientists used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) MUSE and X-shooter instruments at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile to study an ongoing collision between two galaxies, known as IRAS F23128- 5919 , located 600 million light years from Earth.
By observing the colossal winds or jet ejections that originate near the supermassive black hole at the heart of this pair’s southern galaxy, astronomers have discovered the first clear evidence of star formation within a black hole.
The observations thus revealed that stars form within these powerful ejections of matter ejected by supermassive black holes in the nuclei of galaxies. These are undoubtedly the first confirmed observations of stars that are formed in this type of extreme environment, which will have many consequences in the study of astronomy, with a view to our understanding of the characteristics and evolution of galaxies.
Thus, supermassive black holes not only devour stars but also form new ones.
“Astronomers have long thought that the conditions within these streams might be suitable for star formation, but no one has seen what actually happens, as this is a very difficult observation. Our results are exciting because they show unambiguously that stars are being created within these outflows “, explains Roberto Maiolino from the University of Cambridge and leader of the work.
By carefully analyzing the properties of the emitted light, they achieved an unmistakable direct detection of a child population of stars in the outflow of the supermassive black hole.
Astronomers believe that these stars are less than a few tens of millions of years old, and preliminary analysis suggests that they are hotter and brighter than stars formed in less extreme environments like the galactic disk. The light from most of the stars in the region indicates that they are traveling at enormous speeds far from the center of the galaxy.
“If star formation is actually occurring in most galactic ejections, as some theories predict, then this would provide a completely new scenario for our understanding of galaxy evolution, ” says Maiolino.
The study has been published in the journal Nature.
