Black Hole Knocked Off Axis By Galaxy Collision This X-ray image
of hot gas in and around 4C +00.58 reveals four different
cavities -- regions of lower than average X-ray emission --
around the black hole. These cavities come in pairs: one in the
top-right and bottom-left (labeled cavities #1 and #2
respectively), and another in the top-left and bottom-right
(labeled cavities #3 and #4 respectively). Special processing
was applied to this image to make the cavities more obvious.
CREDIT: X-ray (NASA/CXC/UMD/Hodges-Kluck et al): Radio
(NSF/NRAO/VLA/UMD/Hodges-Kluck et al); Optical (SDSS) Full Story
The discovery of a giant, spinning black hole that has been
knocked off its axis twice has led astronomers to suggest that a
violent galaxy collision caused the strange cosmic behavior. "We
think that this black hole has quite a history," said astronomer
Christopher Reynolds of the University of Maryland, a co-author
in the black hole study. "Not once, but twice, something has
caused this black hole to change its spi