International Astronomers Discover Record-Breaking Plasma Jets Using GMRT
A team of international astronomers has used the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) near Pune, India, to discover the largest pair of plasma jets ever observed emanating from a supermassive black hole. These colossal jets span a staggering 23 million light years from end to end, making them more than 100 times the size of our Milky Way galaxy.
A Landmark Discovery in Astrophysics
The discovery, published in the prestigious journal Nature, sets a new record for the longest supermassive black hole jets ever found. Prof Yogesh Wadadekar from the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics-Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (NCRA-TIFR) in Pune explained the significance of the find: “The GMRT telescope located in Khodad, 80 km from Pune, played a crucial role in this discovery.”
Giant jets like these are streams of fast-moving plasma that shoot out from supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies. While jets of such lengths are rare, this one is the longest known so far. The structure has been nicknamed Porphyrion, after a giant from Greek mythology, and dates back to a time when the universe was 6.3 billion years old.
The Role of the GMRT and the Keck I Telescope
To determine the immense length of these plasma jets, astronomers required a powerful radio telescope capable of tracing them back to their host galaxy. This is where the GMRT proved indispensable. The telescope’s sensitive, high-resolution observations allowed researchers to pinpoint the precise position of the host galaxy, making it possible to measure the true scale of the jets.
Lead author Martijn Oei, a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), highlighted GMRT’s contribution: “Without the precise position provided by the GMRT observations, it would have been impossible to identify the optical host galaxy and to determine the giant extent of the radio megastructure.”
After identifying the host galaxy, the researchers used the Keck I optical telescope in Hawaii to confirm the distance, further solidifying their findings.
Implications for the Study of Supermassive Black Hole Jets
The study of supermassive black hole jets in radio galaxies has been a key research focus for the GMRT over the last two decades. This discovery of the Porphyrion megastructure is another milestone, reinforcing GMRT’s critical role in advancing our understanding of these astronomical phenomena.
The enormous size of these jets offers valuable insights into the behaviour and growth of supermassive black holes, as well as the conditions in the universe billions of years ago. Such findings help astronomers refine their models of how galaxies and their central black holes evolve over time.
As research on supermassive black hole jets continues, this discovery could pave the way for new explorations and further contributions from telescopes like the GMRT.