New Companion Object Found Near Cygnus A’s Supermassive Black Hole
Pointing the National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array (VLA) at a famous galaxy for the first time in two decades, a team of astronomers got a big surprise, finding that a bright new object had appeared near the galaxy’s core. The object, the scientists concluded, is either a very rare type of supernova explosion or, more likely, an outburst from a second supermassive black hole closely orbiting the galaxy’s primary, central supermassive black hole.
Credit: Perley, et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF
| Technical Details | |
|---|---|
| Telescope | VLA |
| Center | RA: 19:59:28.36, Dec: 40:44:02.04 |
| Field of View | 0.078 x 0.078 arcminutes |
