Black Hole "Death Ray" Clashes with Distant Galaxy

Astronomers have discovered a "death ray" emanating from a black hole and are observing it clash with a distant galaxy. Super massive black holes can sometimes have powerful jets which produce high amounts of x-rays and gamma-rays and while these jets have been known to exist, never before have scientists witnessed what happens when a galaxy wanders into the destructive path of one. Little is known about these jets and scientists hope that this discovery will help to lead to some more insights about them.

The black hole involved is at the center of one of the two galaxies in the 3C321 system. The two galaxies in this system are orbiting around each other and while both have a super massive black hole at their center, the larger galaxy has a jet coming from it and the smaller galaxy is moving right through it. When two galaxies are orbiting around one another as these two are, they are in the process of merging together into one galaxy. The gravity from each galaxy is sucking the other into it causing them to spiral around each other and move closer and closer to one another until they collide and violently form a new galaxy comprised of the two. These two galaxies have not yet fully collided which is a process that can take millions of years.