NASA's Hubble Space Telescope finds black hole forming star instead of gobbling it

NASA's latest discovery is likely to change your perception about black holes as one of these behemoths was found igniting a star formation in a nearby dwarf galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope was the first to spot this galaxy named Henize 2-10 and its black hole, which is located 30 million light-years away, in the southern constellation Pyxis. Interestingly, the astronomers say that this discovery might play a big part in solving the mystery of where supermassive black holes came from.

Can black holes support star formation?

Black holes, as we all know, are entities that have immensely powerful gravitational pull and nothing, not even light, can escape its influence. However, the latest finding has shown a black hole, right at the heart of Henize 2-10 creating stars instead of consuming them. Astronomer Amy Reines, who first found evidence of a black hole in this galaxy said that the new discovery has changed everything for her. She added as per NASA's statement-

From the beginning, I knew something unusual and special was happening in Henize 2-10, and now Hubble has provided a very clear picture of the connection between the black hole and a neighboring star-forming region located 230 light-years from the black hole.

The connection Reines is talking about is through an outflow of gas, like a jet, emerging from the black hole that has spread to a bright stellar nursery like an umbilical cord. According to NASA, Hubble spectroscopy revealed that this outflowing gas was found slamming into the dense gas and dust of the nursery at a speed of about one million miles per hour. The agency explained that the gas clouds that fell in the way of the superfast jet got heated enough to cool down and ended up forming stars. This, according to the astronomers, happened because the less-massive black hole had a gentler outflow and compressed the gas.

"At only 30 million light-years away, Henize 2-10 is close enough that Hubble was able to capture both images and spectroscopic evidence of a black hole outflow very clearly. The additional surprise was that, rather than suppressing star formation, the outflow was triggering the birth of new stars," said the lead author of the study, Zachary Schutte. 

The scientists noted that this process occurring in this dwarf galaxy is of what's seen in larger galaxies, that have massive black holes at their center. Now that this discovery is out in public, more research will follow to understand how supermassive black holes came to be in the early universe.