'Jellyfish' Galaxies Reveal Feeding Habits of Monster Black Holes

Blooming jellyfish

As cluster winds sweep away the dust and gas in a galaxy, the tentacles they create fill with brilliant young stars. These stars shine brightly in optical wavelengths of light, making the objects stand out to researchers who picked through images of over 70 galaxy clusters hunting for tails, Poggianti said. The scientists also found jellyfish outside of clusters, some as part of galaxy groups and others off on their own. Galaxies found in groups tend to lack the spectacular tails of their cluster compatriots, and all of those found with AGN lie in clusters, Poggianti said.

Simulations combining ram-pressure stripping and AGN-hosting galaxies would be both complicated and computationally expensive, requiring significant time and computer power, Poggianti said. That's why no such simulations exist — yet, she said.

"I imagine that, following our discovery, there will be research groups in the world that will attempt to simulate the two processes together," she said. The paper said that such simulations would be valuable for interpreting the new connection.

The seven jellyfish are only part of a larger swarm. Within the GAs Stripping Phenomena in galaxies with MUSE (GASP) program, Poggianti and her colleagues are continuing to investigate over a hundred more of the intriguing galaxies. [Amazing Space Views of ESO's Very Large Telescope (Photos)]

"When all of the observations will be in our hands — I expect [in] about a year from now — we will be able to have a complete picture," Poggianti said. Once the researchers have obtained all of the data, the team will be able to see how features change and evolve. Observing the jellyfish — some at the beginning of gas removal, others with long tails and still others devoid of gas with no fuel to birth young stars — will allow the researchers to investigate the various stages of the jellyfish lifecycle, Poggianti said.

"This is like seeing galaxy evolution happening in front of your eyes from a front row," she said.

The team is planning, and in some case already working, to observe the galaxies at different wavelengths with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile, Poggianti said. Such observations will help researchers to understand how gas in the jellyfish galaxies evolve over time, she said.

"This is really great, because these are the most powerful astronomical observational facilities in the world, each in its own field and wavelength," Poggianti said. "Their combination will allow us to study all the different gas phases, [and] how they relate to each other and to the formation of new stars."

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