'Death star' black hole seen blasting nearby galaxy

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The massive cosmic assault of a black hole blasting an immense jet of energy and radiation into a nearby galaxy has been observed by astronomers for the first time, NASA announced Monday.

In a burst of galactic violence recorded by astronomers in the US space agency's ground and space-based observatories, the black hole of a "death star" is seen shooting the jet of radiation into the adjacent galaxy, which glows as it deflects much of the energy, NASA said.

"We've seen many jets produced by black holes, but this is the first time we've seen one punch into another galaxy like we're seeing here," said Dan Evans, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and leader of the study.

"This jet could be causing all sorts of problems for...