Quasar J0742+2704 (center) became the subject of astronomers’ interest when it was detected in 2020 using the Carl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) radio observatory in 2020 as a nascent jet blasting from the disk around its supermassive black hole. Found out. This led to a follow-up with other observatories in an attempt to determine the properties of the galaxy and what triggered the jet. Although the jet itself cannot be seen in the Hubble Space Telescope infrared image, the spiral shape of J0742+2704 is clear, with faint but recognizable arms above and below the galactic center. This was a big surprise to the research team, as the jets that host quasars are typically elliptical in shape, and it is suspected that turbulent mergers with other galaxies are the only way to push gas towards the black hole and fuel jets. is flowing These mergers will also disrupt the formation of any spirals that may occur before the galaxy’s material merges with another galaxy. Although its intact spiral shape means it has not experienced a major merger, Hubble shows evidence that its lower arm has been disrupted, possibly by the tidal forces of an interaction with another galaxy. from This may mean that the jets may be triggered by a less involved, dramatic interaction of galaxies than by a complete merger. The large galaxy to the lower right of the quasar appears to be a ring galaxy, another sign of interaction. After a small galaxy passes through the center of a large galaxy, some ring galaxies form, rearranging its gas and dust. The brightest parts of this image—the foreground stars and the bright center of the quasar—reveal the characteristic “starry” spikes produced by Hubble’s (and other telescopes’) internal structures. They are not real aspects of cosmic objects.
NASA, ESA, Christina Nyland (US Naval Research Laboratory); Photo Credit: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)