An Ohio scientist, using NASA's Chandra telescope, has observed the aftermath of the largest ever explosion in space - the remnants of a huge black hole.
The explosion in a distant cluster of galaxies left two enormous bubble-like cavities, each about 650,000 light years across, surrounded by hot gas.
Lead researcher Brian McNamara, an Ohio University astronomer, described the aftermath of the two explosions as "a nuclear blast without the light."
At the center of the galaxy where the huge bubbles were observed is a supermassive black hole. Such explosions are thought to be caused by black holes and may be the reason why there are not more stars. The energy in the shock wave from such an event may be so intense that it prevents matter from cooling and coalescing into new stars.
The amount of energy contained in the shock wave also suggests that the black hole is gobbling up a greater amount of matter than scientists would have predicted.
"It's like a 300 pound person eating 100 pounds of meat in one sitting," McNamara said.
The study of the explosion is published in this week's issue of the journal Nature.
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
