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Wobbling Black Hole Jet in Spiral Galaxy Drives 20,000-Light-Year Gas Outflow

A peer-reviewed Science study using JWST, Keck, VLA, ALMA finds a precessing jet expelling star-forming gas.

Overview

  • Published in Science, the UC Irvine and Caltech/IPAC-led team reports a precessing kiloparsec-scale radio jet in VV 340a that powers a galaxy-wide outflow.
  • JWST reveals an unusually extended coronal plasma structure stretching roughly 20,000 light-years from the galaxy’s center.
  • Keck’s KCWI maps cooler gas pushed to the largest distances, enabling estimates of the outflow’s reach and persistence.
  • VLA imaging shows an S-shaped, helical jet consistent with precession, with ALMA data helping characterize the multiphase gas.
  • The outflow removes about 19.4 ± 7.9 solar masses of gas per year, likely damping future star formation, and the team plans higher-resolution radio follow-up and a survey of ~32 similar galaxies to test causes including a possible undetected binary black hole.