Astronomers, using data from the Hubble and Chandra space telescopes, have made a groundbreaking discovery: a supermassive black hole at the center of the lenticular galaxy NGC 5084 that appears to be “lying” on its side. Unlike anything previously observed, its axis of rotation is aligned parallel to the plane of the galaxy. The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal. Scientists have studied the center of the lenticular galaxy NGC 5084, which is located 80 million light years away from us. The width of this galaxy is 200,000 light years, which is 2 times larger than the Milky Way, and its mass is 1.3 trillion solar masses. NGC 5084 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation of Virgo. It is located at a distance of about 80 million light years from Earth. The fact that the galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center was revealed by four long jets of plasma and X-rays that are escaping from the galaxy’s core and forming an X-shaped structure. Astronomers say they have never seen anything like this before. The presence of such jets and radiation indicates that matter is being consumed by a huge black hole. Some of this matter is being ejected from the swirling accretion disk surrounding the black hole. Two of the jets are ejected above and below the plane of the galaxy, as would be expected if the black hole’s equatorial plane were aligned with the plane of the galaxy. But the other two jets are embedded in the galactic disk, indicating that the supermassive black hole was originally upright and then flipped on its side. That is, its axis of rotation became parallel to the plane of the galaxy. Astronomers have confirmed that the black hole is “lying” on its side by detecting an accretion disk surrounding the black hole that, instead of being parallel to the plane of the galaxy, is perpendicular to it. Scientists are not sure what caused the black hole to flip, with its rotation axis at a 90-degree angle to the plane of the galaxy, but there is one possibility. Perhaps in the past, the galaxy NGC 5084 collided with another galaxy that had its own supermassive black hole. This event caused the two black holes to collide and merge. This resulted in a strong influx of matter being consumed by the black hole, an unusual release of plasma jets, and an odd placement of the black hole. More observations are needed to determine what mysterious event actually changed the fate of this supermassive black hole. In the meantime, astronomers have found that the black hole at the center of the galaxy NGC 5084 has a mass that is nearly 46 million times greater than the mass of the Sun. The post Supermassive Black Hole Lies on Its Side After a Mysterious Event appeared first on Anomalien.com.