Jets from Radio Galaxy 3C296
			
		
		
		
			Jets of streaming 
plasma expelled by the central 
black hole of a massive 
elliptical galaxy 
likely light up this composite image of 
3C296.  
The jets emanating from NGC 5532 and are nearly a million light years long.  
Exactly how the 
central black hole expels the 
infalling matter is still unknown.  
After clearing the galaxy, however, the 
jets inflate large 
radio bubbles that could glow for millions of years.  
If excited by a passing front, 
radio bubbles can even light up again after a billion years.  
Visible light is depicted in the 
above image in blue, while 
radio waves are shown in red.  
The radio map was created with the 
Very Large Array of 
radio telescopes.