Astronomers observe supermassive black hole expelling fast stream of gas

(Artist concept of matter swirling around a black hole – Photo Credit: NASA/Dana Berry/SkyWorks Digital)

An international team of astronomers have discovered some unusual behaviour from a supermassive black hole, located 244.6 million light-years away from Earth, at the heart of galaxy NGC 5548. Although unexpected, its behaviour could provide valuable new insights into how supermassive black holes interact with their host galaxies.