Exotic galaxy attracts astronomers

Space.com : A newly discovered galaxy 1.7 billion light-years away has captured astronomers’ attention because of its unique combination of characteristics. Speca is only the second spiral, as opposed to elliptical, galaxy known to generate large, powerful jets of subatomic particles that rush from its center at nearly the speed of light. It is also one of only two galaxies to have shown such activity in three separate episodes. The jets are produced by a supermassive black hole at Speca’s center. “This is probably the most exotic galaxy with a black hole ever seen. It has the potential to teach us new lessons about how galaxies and clusters of galaxies formed and developed into what we see today,” said the study’s principal investigator, Ananda Hota, of the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan. Hota and colleagues have published their results in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.