A massive black hole sits at the centre of the giant galaxy NGC 1275, which is itself in the centre of the Perseus Cluster. Giant filaments of gas connect this beast out to surrounding galaxy cluster (ESA press release).

Until now it has been something of a mystery how these filaments survive the harsh environment of the galaxy cluster and its multi-million degree gas, without being heated up and evaporated. A paper in this week’s Nature, from galactic sleuths led by Andy Fabian of the UK’s Institute of Astronomy, claims to have solved the problem:

Here we report observations that resolve thread-like structures in the filaments. Some threads extend over 6 kpc [kiloparsec], yet are only 70 pc wide. We conclude that magnetic fields in the threads, in pressure balance with the surrounding gas, stabilize the filaments, so allowing a large mass of cold gas to accumulate and delay star formation.

Press coverage

Galactic ‘spaghetti monster’ powered by magnetic fields – New Scientist

Galactic “Jellyfish” Mystery Solved? – National Geographic

Image: NASA, ESA and Andy Fabian (University of Cambridge, UK)