The ALMA radio telescope allowed us to study the extraordinary events taking place in the galaxy W2246-0526, the brightest we know. It’s a quasar because its core is powered by a supermassive black hole that has a considerable activity that generates enormous jets of particles and high-energy radiation. This one in particular is part of a special category of quasars because it’s full of dust that absorbs a lot of radiation. However, the consequence of this activity is a turbulent activity that is expelling the gas.

The quasar galaxy W2246-0526 is about 12.4 billion years away, so we see it like it was when the universe was still very young. It was discovered by the NASA’s WISE (Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) space telescope thanks to its infrared emissions, in fact, its full name is WISE J224607.57-052635.0.

The intensity of the infrared light coming from the galaxy W2246-0526 is extraordinary, estimated at about 350 trillion times that of the Sun. The area around the supermassive black hole at its center is a hundred times brighter than the rest of the galaxy combined, a proportion out of the ordinary in quasars.

The ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) radio telescope, which inaugurated nearly three years ago, allowed to detect the movements of gas and dust in the galaxy W2246-0526. These are the materials that obscure part of the quasar, nevertheless the observations at the various electromagnetic frequencies allowed a team of astronomers led by Tanio Diaz-Santos of the Universidad Diego Portales (UDP) in Santiago, Chile, to find evidence that the its activity is particularly turbulent.

The materials that are close to the supermassive black hole are highly heated and emit electromagnetic radiation but in this case the results are extreme. This rare type of quasar is called Hot DOG (Hot Dust-Obscured Galaxies) and is a special category of galaxies that are hot and full of dust that absorbs most of the electromagnetic radiation.

Roberto Assef of the UDP compared the quasar W2246-0526 to a raging furnace that is making the pot boil over. In essence, the infrared radiation emitted by these materials are intense enough to push away the interstellar gas still present in the galaxy. This is the gas needed to form new stars so its ejection is a negative event.

If the out of the ordinary activity in the galaxy W2246-0526 continues, it may turn into a common type of quasar. To verify that, the observations with the ALMA radio telescope will go on. Currently, it’s the only one with enough resolution to adequately study the catastrophic events we’re seeing.

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