The image is a composite of six VLBA images made at observing frequencies ranging from 2.2 GigaHertz (GHz) to 22.2 GHz. The broad lobes on either side of the bright core are the result of jet activity that began roughly 80 years ago. The gap between these lobes and the central region indicates, the scientists said, that the jet activity stopped sometime after that, then resumed about 10 years ago.

"These are among the youngest known jets in such systems, and only a handful are known to emit gamma-rays," said Matthew Lister, of Purdue University.

The bright edges of the lobes are where the ejected material, moving at about a third the speed of light, impacted material within the galaxy. The bright emitting areas total about 35 light-years across, and are at the core of the galaxy, where a supermassive black hole about one million times the mass of the Sun resides.

Lister and his colleagues are reporting their findings in the Astrophysical Journal.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

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Related Multimedia:

• Images of the galaxy TXS 0128+554

Journal Reference:

1. M. L. Lister, D. C. Homan, Y. Y. Kovalev, S. Mandal, A. B. Pushkarev, A. Siemiginowska. TXS 0128 554: A Young Gamma-Ray-emitting Active Galactic Nucleus with Episodic Jet Activity. The Astrophysical Journal, 2020; 899 (2): 141 DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aba18d