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Meet Porphyrion, the largest pair of black hole jets ever seen

The gargantuan fountains could shape cosmic structures far beyond their own galaxy

A fiery beam of light — emerging from two sides of a black hole — shoots across a dark background strewn with scattered silvery wisps and occasional bright dots representing galaxies.

High-energy jets emerge from two sides of a black hole (illustrated). The black hole resides in a galaxy that is part of a filament of the cosmic web (silvery wisps).

E. Wernquist, M. Oei, D. Nelson/IllustrisTNG Collaboration

By Lisa Grossman

Opposing fountains of plasma and particles spanning 23 million light-years are the longest pair of black hole jets ever seen.