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Astronomy

The Role of Galaxy Mergers in Triggering Active Galactic Nuclei

Quick fact

A galaxy merger can funnel enough gas toward the central supermassive black hole to ignite an active galactic nucleus, making the merged galaxy one of the most luminous objects in the universe, outshining its billions of stars.

Why this is interesting

You know that when two galaxies collide, the result can cause an otherwise quiet supermassive black hole to suddenly flare into an active quasar. But how can a merger create such a powerful event?