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Astronomers believe they have a glimpse into the structure of a black hole, after the Hubble Space Telescope spotted a collection of rays and shadows radiating from the center of a galaxy millions of light years away.
Black holes are the largest monsters in the universe, quickly consuming anything nearby. Their gravity is so powerful that even light cannot escape them, an extraordinary fact that also makes them invisible to us and therefore incredibly difficult to study.
However, experts noticed vast shadows and narrow, bright rays extending from the center of galaxy IC 5063, as if something huge stood in the way of the intense light.
Experts believe it could be a black hole in the heart of the galaxy casting its shadow into space, and an alignment oddity could allow them to glimpse its structure.
Certain rays of light penetrate the spaces of the dust ring, creating light rays that resemble the beams of light that can be seen radiating from the sun at sunset.
“We believe we have found evidence that there is probably dust all over the galaxy scattering light from the growing black hole into the active core of the galaxy, and that the light can illuminate almost the entire galaxy,” explained astronomer Peter Maksym of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Because scientists have never witnessed this phenomenon before, it may take them a while to definitively prove that a black hole is the source of the strange beams and shadows. However, the development presents a tantalizing scientific discovery and a rich opportunity for further research.
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