Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
scitechdaily.com/quasar-powered-galaxy-attack-revealed-in-stunning-detail
This video shows a series of animations of two interacting galaxies, where one of them is piercing the other with intense radiation, like a cosmic joust.
The first animation shows a wide view of both galaxies. The one to the right hosts a quasar – a central supermassive black hole that is accreting matter and emitting a powerful beam of radiation. As this radiation passes through the companion galaxy, it disrupts the gas clouds within it.
The animation then zooms into the affected area of the companion galaxy. The radiation from the quasar has destroyed most of the large gas clouds, leaving only small clumps and hampering the galaxy’s ability to form new stars. This damage was studied using the X-shooter instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT).
The last animation shows both galaxies with the orientation they have as seen from Earth. The illustration is blended with a real image taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), which maps the molecular gas in these galaxies.
Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser
scitechdaily.com/quasar-powered-galaxy-attack-revealed-in-stunning-detail
This video shows a series of animations of two interacting galaxies, where one of them is piercing the other with intense radiation, like a cosmic joust.
The first animation shows a wide view of both galaxies. The one to the right hosts a quasar – a central supermassive black hole that is accreting matter and emitting a powerful beam of radiation. As this radiation passes through the companion galaxy, it disrupts the gas clouds within it.
The animation then zooms into the affected area of the companion galaxy. The radiation from the quasar has destroyed most of the large gas clouds, leaving only small clumps and hampering the galaxy’s ability to form new stars. This damage was studied using the X-shooter instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT).
The last animation shows both galaxies with the orientation they have as seen from Earth. The illustration is blended with a real image taken with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), which maps the molecular gas in these galaxies.
Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser
