Astronomers Spot a Supermassive Black Hole Bouncing Jets Across its Galaxy

Supermassive black holes lurk in the hearts of every large galaxy. Some blast out jets that can spill into its host galaxy or even beyond. The energy carried by the jets is deposited in the surrounding material, playing a crucial role in the evolution of the galaxy and, in extreme cases, other galaxies nearby. And thanks to recent observations of the famous galaxy Cygnus A with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have gotten a closer glimpse at just how those jets work — and how things are not always as straightforward as they seem. Instead, Cygnus A’s jets seem to be bouncing around, deflected off walls of gas and gouging out holes in the material in the process.