Quasar Tsunamis Found by Hubble

The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered quasar tsunamis — the most powerful outflows of energy ever seen in the Universe.

Quasar tsunamis discovered by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope erupt in the most energetic outflows of material ever seen. This outpouring of energy wrecks havoc with galaxies in which these enigmatic objects reside, altering the evolution of these families of stars.

Quasars are energetic cores of galaxies, composed of supermassive black holes fed by vast quantities of gas, stars, and planets. These bodies are capable of emitting a thousand times as much energy as the entire galaxies which host the bodies.

Dr. Nahum Arav, physicist at Virginia Tech and lead researcher on this study, will be interviewed on the Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion podcast on April 21 — tune in for this exciting episode!

Quasar winds push vast amounts of material away from the core of an energetic supermassive black hole at the core of a distant galaxy, in this artist’s conception. Image credit: NASA

These quasar winds push material away from the center of the galaxy, accelerating gas and dust at speeds approaching a few percent of the speed of light. The pressure pushes aside material which could otherwise collapse to form new stars, making stellar formation more difficult, reducing the number of new stars formed. This new study shows this process is more widespread than previously believed, altering star formation throughout entire galaxies.