Australia Telescope Compact Array

The giant radio galaxy B1545-321

Powerful beams of relativistic plasma once emerged from a black hole in a galaxy located at the centre of this image and created the giant radio lobes that are 1.5 million light years in size. That activity ceased and the giant lobes are now relics. The Australia Telescope image shows that the activity has recently restarted and bright new beams from the black hole in the galactic nucleus are seen advancing almost ballistically through the light relic synchrotron cocoon created by the older activity.

13 cm wavelength ATCA image by L. Saripalli, R. Subrahmanyan and Udaya Shankar

Original: Bob Sault (13-Dec-2002)
Modified: Bob Sault (13-Dec-2002)