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December 2, 2008 11:03:53 AM CST

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NASA Finds 'Death Star' Galaxy

Posted Dec 18, 07 4:02 AM CST in Science & Health 

(Newser) – NASA astronomers have discovered a "death star galaxy" with a super massive black hole that is blasting a neighboring galaxy with deadly radiation. It's the first time scientists have witnessed such a phenomenon. The hungry black hole has been zapping a galaxy 20,000 light years away for about a million years, reports Space.com. 

Although the massive jet of radiation is deadly, it may also be life-giving by helping new planets to form, scientists theorize. "Jets can be highly disruptive but create stellar nurseries," said an astrophysicist. "It's a fascinating sort of duality about how these high-energy phenomena influence the environments in which they're embedded."

Source Space.com

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This artist's impression of 3C321 shows the main galaxy and the companion galaxy. A jet of particles generated by a supermassive black hole at the center of the main galaxy is striking the companion galaxy....   (NASA/CXC/M. Weiss)
This composite photo provided by NASA shows A powerful jet from a supermassive black hole is blasting a nearby galaxy in the system known as 3C321, according to new results from NASA. This galactic violence,...   (Associated Press)
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