X-shaped radio galaxies might form more simply than expected
Astronomers frequently observe elliptical-shaped galaxies with twin jets erupting from either side of their central supermassive black hole when using radio telescopes to observe the night sky. However, astronomers may occasionally—less than 10% of the time—discover something unique and uncommon: a radio galaxy in the shape of an X with four long-distance jets. Despite the fact that astrophysicists have been baffled by these unusual X-shaped radio galaxies for the past two decades, a recent study from Northwestern University offers new information about their shockingly straightforward formation process. Additionally, the study discovered that X-shaped radio galaxies might be more widespread than previously believed. The Astrophysical Journal Letters will publish the paper on August 29. The galactic gas far from the supermassive black hole is followed all the way toward it, making it the first large-scale galaxy accretion simulation to do so. The Northwestern astrophysicists used fresh...