With the help of citizen scientists, a team of astronomers has discovered a unique black hole spewing a fiery jet into another galaxy. The black hole is housed in a galaxy about a billion light-years from Earth called RAD12. The work was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. Galaxies are typically divided into two main classes based on their morphology: spiral and elliptical

The spirals have optically blue-looking spiral arms with plenty of cool gas and dust. In spiral galaxies, new stars form at an average rate of one Sun-like star per year. In contrast, elliptical galaxies appear yellowish and lack distinctive features such as spiral arms.

Star formation in elliptical galaxies is very rare. It is still a mystery to astronomers why the elliptical galaxies we see today have not been forming new stars for billions of years.

In spiral galaxies, new stars form at an average rate of one Sun-like star per year. In contrast, elliptical galaxies appear yellowish and lack distinctive features such as spiral arms.

Star formation in elliptical galaxies is very rare. It is still a mystery to astronomers why the elliptical galaxies we see today have not been forming new stars for billions of years. Evidence suggests that supermassive black holes or “monsters” are responsible.

These “monstrous” black holes spew giant jets made of electrons moving at very high speeds into other galaxies, depleting the fuel needed for future star formation: cold gas and dust.