Artist’s impression of gas filament eclipsing a black hole

This artist’s impression illustrates the finding, by an international team of astronomers, of a clumpy gas stream flowing quickly outward from the supermassive black hole at the centre of active galaxy NGC 5548.

The gas filament is blocking 90 percent of the X-rays emitted by the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy. This activity may provide new insights into the interaction between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies.

The arrow in the image shows the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s line of sight.