A jet of high-energy particles shooting from a black hole (left) ignites stars in a nearby galaxy in an artist's rendering. Two new studies based on data from the European Southern Observatory suggest that the nearby active black hole HE0450-2958 is creating its future home by "zapping" a nearby galaxy, triggering rapid star formation.
Most large galaxies are thought to have supermassive black holes in their middles, although scientists haven't been sure which comes first, the galaxy or the black hole. HE0450-2958 has no identified host galaxy of its own. But the black hole's jet is feeding a companion galaxy, which is forming stars at a rate of about 350 suns a year--a hundred times the rate of a typical galaxy. Astronomers think the two objects will eventually merge, creating a full-fledged galaxy with a black hole at its heart.
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