Hubble's Spiral Surprise: Quasar Discovery That Disproves Theories

The Hubble Space Telescope has revealed a quasar inhabiting a spiral galaxy – a surprising discovery that challenges existing understanding of the structure of quasars and the origin of their jets of matter.

Quasar J0742+2704 (center) became a topic of interest for astronomers in 2020 after it was discovered to have a new jet emanating from the disk around its supermassive black hole. The discovery was made using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) radio observatory. Follow-up observations were subsequently made with other observatories, with the aim of determining the properties of the galaxy and understanding what might have powered the jet. **Credit:** NASA, ESA, Kristina Nyland (US Naval Research Laboratory); Image processing: Joseph DePascala (STScI).
Quasar J0742+2704 (center) became a topic of interest for astronomers in 2020 after it was discovered to have a new jet emanating from the disk around its supermassive black hole. The discovery was made using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) radio observatory. Follow-up observations were then made with other observatories to determine the properties of the galaxy and understand what might have powered the jet. Credit: NASA, ESA, Kristina Nyland (US Naval Research Laboratory); Image processing: Joseph DePascala (STScI).

The Hubble Space Telescope has revealed a quasar inhabiting a spiral galaxy, thus disproving the commonly held hypothesis that galaxies that host quasars are only elliptical in shape.

Following the 2020 discovery of young jets in several quasars, the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed unexpected details about quasar J0742+2704. The quasar's host galaxy has been found to show no signs of a major galactic merger and retains a clear spiral structure, raising new questions about the origin of the quasar's jets.

Quasar J0742+2704 was selected for in-depth study following the discovery of a young jet in 2020 using Karl Ginsky's Very Large Array (VLA). Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope revealed the preserved spiral structure of the host galaxy, which is inconsistent with previous hypotheses about the structure of quasar-hosting galaxies.

A surprising spiral discovery in space

Hubble has captured intriguing hints of an interaction, if not a full-blown merger, between galaxies that include the quasar J0742+2704. There is evidence of a distorted tidal tail, or stream of gas, being pulled outward by the gravity of a nearby galaxy. The presence of a ring galaxy also suggests an interaction: the unique shape of ring galaxies is thought to be the result of one galaxy passing through another, causing its contents to be redistributed into a central core surrounded by stars and gas. **Credit:** NASA, ESA, Kristina Nyland (US Naval Research Laboratory); Image processing: Joseph DePascala (STScI).
Hubble has captured intriguing hints of an interaction, if not a full-blown merger, between galaxies that include the quasar J0742+2704. There is evidence of a distorted tidal tail, or stream of gas, being pulled outward by the gravity of a nearby galaxy. The presence of a ring galaxy also suggests an interaction: the unique shape of ring galaxies is thought to be the result of one galaxy passing through another, causing its contents to be redistributed into a central core surrounded by stars and gas. Credit: NASA, ESA, Kristina Nyland (US Naval Research Laboratory); Image processing: Joseph DePascala (STScI).


"The biggest surprise was seeing the clear spiral shape in the Hubble images," said Olivia Achenbach, a student at the U.S. Naval Academy who discovered the find as part of a four-week internship.

According to Dr. Christina Nyland, research advisor and scientist at the US Naval Research Laboratory, "Finding a quasar in a spiral galaxy, with a black hole 400 million times the mass of the Sun and young jets not seen 20 years ago – this is extremely rare and exciting."

Galaxy J0742+2704 raises questions about the origins of quasar jets, which have a significant impact on the evolution of galaxies. While quasar jets are often thought to be the result of galaxy mergers, this discovery suggests that there may be other mechanisms for jet formation.

The realization that one of the galaxy's arms shows signs of distortion, likely due to the gravity of a nearby galaxy, suggests an intergalactic interaction that did not reach a full merger.

A new frontier in astronomical discoveries


The study suggests that we may be witnessing the result of a galactic interaction that led to the formation of the young quasar jet. Another galaxy with a ring structure has been observed near the quasar galaxy, and the ring structure may indicate a previous interaction.

"This discovery is just the beginning," said Nyland, adding that further studies will be conducted using the Chandra and ALMA telescopes in Chile.

According to Achenbach, "If we had looked at this galaxy 20 years ago, we wouldn't have seen anything unusual. It just shows that if you keep exploring, you can discover something amazing that you never expected, which could lead to new research directions."

The results of the study were presented at the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, DC.


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