It is an illustration of a distant galaxy with an active quasar in the center. A quasar emits extraordinarily large amounts of energy generated by a supermassive black hole fueled by pouring material. Credit: NASA, ESA and J. Olmsted (STScI)
Using the unique capabilities of NASAsay Hubble Space Telescope, a team of astronomers discovered the most energetic outflows in the universe. They come from quasars and tear like tsunamis across interstellar space, destroying the galaxies in which the quasars live.
This illustration shows a distant galaxy with an active quasar in the center. A quasar gives extraordinarily large amounts of energy generated by a supermassive black hole fueled by falling matter. Utilizing the unique capabilities of Hubble, astronomers have discovered that blowing radiation pressure from the vicinity of the black hole pushes material away from the galaxy at a fraction of the speed of light. The “quasar winds” propel hundreds of solar masses of material each year. It affects the entire galaxy as the material in the surrounding gas and dust snow.