Astronomers led by Université de Montréal professor Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo have used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to obtain one of the clearest views to date of how a supermassive black hole sustains itself. The findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, offer new insights into the self-regulating mechanisms of active galactic nuclei.
Most big galaxies in the universe contain a supermassive black hole at their center, with masses ranging from millions to billions of times that of the Sun. When these black holes actively consume surrounding material, they function as cosmic engines, emitting powerful energy jets that can shape the surrounding galaxy and influence the rate of new star formation.
A persistent question in astrophysics has been how these black holes continue to grow if their energy jets heat the surrounding gas, which theoretically should cut off the black hole’s supply of fuel. The study supports the hypothesis that gas eventually cools and condenses into long, thin structures known as filaments, which then fall back toward the galaxy’s center to feed the black hole.
The research team focused on NGC 4696, the central galaxy of the Centaurus Cluster, located approximately 145 million light-years from Earth. While the Hubble Space Telescope had previously identified an S-shaped swirl of gas near the galaxy’s central black hole, it was unable to track the movement of that gas.
By utilizing the JWST’s NIRSpec instrument for nearly eight hours, the researchers produced detailed maps of gas motion within the black hole’s sphere of influence. The observations revealed that the S-shaped swirl is a spinning disk of gas roughly 800 light-years across, with material traveling at speeds of up to 600 kilometers per second.
The data demonstrated a physical connection between this spinning disk and one of the big infalling filaments extending into the galaxy. The study shows gas flowing along the filament, entering the disk, and subsequently falling onto the supermassive black hole.
This process creates a continuous cycle where jets from the black hole pump energy into the surrounding gas, which then cools and collapses into filaments. Magnetic forces help steer these filaments inward, where they accumulate into a disk to provide further fuel. This discovery has prompted new observational programs for NGC 4696 and similar systems to further investigate how black holes regulate galaxy growth throughout the universe.
