Hubble catches a jet collision

The Milky Way -- our home galaxy -- is pretty sleepy, as galaxies go. While bigger than most, it's a good neighbor, generally behaving itself and keeping the noise down. M87, on the other hand is a galactic frat house. Deep in the heart of every big galaxy is a supermassive black hole. The Milky Way is no exception, but our black hole is quiet. The one in the core of M87, though is actively feeding. As material swirls around the Point of No Return, magnetic forces align to channel out twin beams or jets of energy and matter that scream out from just above and below the black hole at nearly the speed of light. Bad neighbor indeed. At 50+ million light years distant it's no danger to us, though it does keep astronomers up at night: our view of M87's jet is pretty clear, and when it hiccups, ...