Astronomers are now rethinking the underlying trigger of quasar jets.
Following up on the groundbreaking 2020 discovery of newborn jets in a number of quasars, the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed one of the quasar host galaxies to have a spiral shape, defying expectations. It has been thought that quasar jets are triggered by galaxy mergers, but an intact spiral, unperturbed by merger, contradicts this and opens up new questions as to what may have set off the jets.
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