| CID-42 | |
|---|---|
 Optical and X-ray images of CID-42 | |
| Observation data (J2000epoch) | |
| Constellation | Sextans |
| Right ascension | 10h 00m 43.13s |
| Declination | +02° 06′ 37.40″ |
| Redshift | 0.359[1] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 89302 km/s[2] |
| Distance | 3.9 billion[3] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | ? |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | Spiral |
| Mass | 4.5x1011[1] M☉ |
| Number of stars | ? |
| Apparent size (V) | ? |
| Other designations | |
| CXOC J100043.1+020637 2XMM J100043.1+020637 | |
CID-42 (also known as CXOC J100043.1+020637[4]) is agalaxyquasar about 3.9 billionlight years away in the constellationSextans. It is believed to have asupermassive black hole at its center.
CID-42 is thought to be the result of a galaxy collision between two smaller galaxies. It has a distinctive trail of stars extending many light years.[3]
The discovery of a potential black hole was made after combining through the data and images taken by several telescopes includingNASA'sChandra X-ray Observatory, theHubble Space Telescope, theCanada-France-Hawaii Telescope and from the ground-basedMagellan andVery Large Telescopes inChile.[5]
When the two galaxies collided the black holes in their centers collided, forming a single supermassive black hole. The black hole then recoiled from thegravitational waves produced by the merger and is being ejected out of the galaxy at several million miles per hour (~2000 km s−1).[1][6]
Once ejected it is expected to shine as a displacedquasar for 10 million to 10 billion years until it exhausts its fuel and is no longer recognizable as a quasar.[7]
JWSTNIRCam observations were able to rule out the gravitational wave producing recoiling black hole sencario. Instead CID-42 is a merging galaxy with only oneactive galactic nucleus.[8]
