Rotating Winds Fuel Cosmic Giants: New Black Hole Insights From ALMA

Scientists identified a magnetized wind in a nearby galaxy that supports the growth of its central supermassive black hole, indicating a common growth mechanism with star formation.

Supermassive black holes pose unanswered questions for astronomers around the world, not least “How do they grow so big?” Now, an international team of astronomers, including researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, has discovered a powerful rotating, magnetic wind that they believe is helping a galaxy’s central supermassive black hole to grow. The swirling wind, revealed with the help of the ALMA telescope in nearby galaxy ESO320-G030, suggests that similar processes are involved both in black hole growth and the birth of stars.

Understanding the Growth of Supermassive Black Holes