Scientists just found a bizarre cosmic object ‘hiding in plain sight’
Meet the Milky Way’s first microblazar
Scientists have recently discovered a peculiar cosmic object "hiding in plain sight" – an invisible stream of superfast plasma heading towards Earth. This discovery marks the first evidence of a microblazar, a miniature version of a blazar, an active galactic nucleus containing a supermassive black hole that propels high-speed plasma jets towards Earth.
Josep Martí, an astronomer at the University of Jaén in Spain and lead author of the study, expressed his excitement in a statement, noting that this finding could shed light on the evolution of microblazars and the interaction of their jets with the interstellar medium. The object in question is situated approximately 12,000 light-years from Earth, orbiting a star and a black hole.
Due to its proximity and the presence of a cloud of dust obscuring it, the microblazar remained undetected for decades, despite being cataloged in the past. With the newfound visibility of this microblazar, scientists are eager to study its characteristics, including its formation, the behavior of its jets, and the possibility of similar systems existing within our own galaxy.
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