Matter accreting around a supermassive black hole (artist's impression)

Loading player...

At the heart of most, if not all, giant galaxies lies a supermassive black hole. When dust and gas falls into the central black hole, it heats up and emits intense radiation. Quasars, some of the brightest objects in the cosmos, are powered by these phenomena. In this artist’s impression of a quasar, the rotating ring of matter, and powerful jets of particles thrown out at close to the speed of light can be seen.

Credit:

ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser)

About the Video

Id:hubblecast43b
Release date:1 March 2011, 16:00
Duration:14s

About the Object

Type:• 3D Animations Videos
• Quasars/AGN/Black Hole Images/Videos
• HD Videos

High Definition

HD & Apple TV
9.0 MB

Large Videos

Large QT
4.1 MB

Medium Videos

Video Podcast
2.8 MB
Medium MPEG-1
8.3 MB
Medium Flash
3.1 MB

Small Videos

Small Flash
1.2 MB
Small QT
1.0 MB

Broadcast Videos

Broadcast SD
105.8 MB

Also see our