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A giant disk of cold gas and dust fuels a possible
black hole at the core of this galaxy. Estimated to be 300 light years
across, the disk is tipped enough to provide astronomers with a clear view
of the bright hub, which presumably harbors the black hole. The dark dusty
disk, represents a cold outer region which extends inward to an ultra-hot
accretion disk, within a few hundred million miles of the suspected black
hole. This disk feeds matter into the black hole where gravity compresses
and heats the material. Hot gas rushes from the vicinity of the black
hole's radio jets. The jets are aligned perpendicular to the disk, like an
axle through a wheel. This provides strong circumstantial evidence for the
black hole's central engine.
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