Sagittarius A* in the center of the Milky Way galaxy
New evidence has been uncovered indicating the presence of a jet of high-energy particles blasting out of the Milky Way's supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*.
This composite image features both X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (purple) and radio emission from the the NSF's Very Large Array (blue). The location of a shock front is also marked.
As the jet fires away from Sgr A*, it travels through space until it hits gas several light years away. Once the jet hits, it triggers the formation of a shock front. Sgr A* is some 26,000 light-years away from Earth, with a mass approximately 4 million times that of the sun.
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/UCLA/Z.Li et al; Radio: NRAO/VLA