Free Astronomy Magazine September-October 2024

33 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2024 ASTRO PUBLISHING tronomers believe this newly discov- ered wind feeds the black hole to help it grow. This process is similar to a much smaller-scale environ- ment in space: the swirls of gas and dust that lead to the birth of new stars and planets. “It is well-estab- lished that stars, in the first stages of their evolution, grow with the help of rotating winds – accelerated by magnetic fields, just like the wind in this galaxy. Our observa- tions show that supermassive black holes and tiny stars can grow by similar processes, but on very differ- ent scales,” says Mark Gorski, lead author of this research, and a fellow with the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astro- physics at Northwestern University, and also affiliated with the Depart- ment of Space, Earth and Environ- ment at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden.) A ssisted by magnetic fields, a spi- raling wind helps the supermas- sive black hole in galaxy ESO320- G030 grow. In this illustration, the core of the galaxy is dominated by a rotating wind of dense gas leading outwards from the (hidden) super- massive black hole at the galaxy’s center. The motions of the gas, traced by light from molecules of hydrogen cyanide, have been measured with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submil- limeter Array. [M. D. Gorski/Aaron M. Geller, Northwestern University, CIERA, the Center for Interdisciplinary Explo- ration and Research in Astrophysics.] !