Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Balashev and P. Noterdaeme et al.

This image, taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), shows the molecular gas content of two galaxies involved in a cosmic collision. The one on the right hosts a quasar –– a supermassive black hole that is accreting material from its surroundings and releasing intense radiation directly into the other galaxy.  Astronomers used the X-shooter instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) to detect the quasar’s light as it passes through an invisible halo of gas surrounding the galaxy on the left. In doing so, they could observe the damage that this radiation causes to the victim, disrupting its clouds of gas and hampering its ability to form new stars.

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso2509a/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, None, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License