Black hole blows huge gas bubble

The gas is expanding because it is being heated by powerful particle "jets" being released by the black hole.

The observations were made by the Very Large Telescope in Chile and Nasa's Chandra space observatory.

Astronomers have unveiled the findings in the latest edition of Nature journal.

"We have been astonished by how much energy is injected into the gas by the black hole," says lead author Manfred Pakull, from the University of Strasbourg, France.

Black holes are known to release a prodigious amount of energy when they swallow matter.

It was thought that most of this energy was released in the form of radiation, predominantly X-rays.

However, the new findings show that some black holes can spew out at least as much energy, perhaps more, as "jets" of fast-moving particles. Kazinform cites BBC. See www.news.bbc.co.uk for full version.