National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Photo: Black Holes Belch Universe's Most Energetic Particles


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Jets of plasma shoot out from a supermassive black hole known as an active galactic nucleus in an artist's illustration. These jets have long been suspected as the source of high-energy cosmic rays, the most energetic particles in the universe.

Now data from an observatory in Argentina suggest that active galactic nuclei are in fact the source of the highest-energy cosmic rays.

Image courtesy NASA E/PO, Sonoma State University, Aurore Simonnet