Way and its neighbor Andromeda. These sizes are typical for giant, double-lobed radio galaxies.
The big question is what, if anything, connects the lobes to the nucleus? The answer is probably a cosmic jetΓÇöa thin beam of incredibly hot, fast-moving gas. In this image a radio jet extends about 20,000 light years from one side of the nucleus. It seems to consist of yellow, or relatively hot, blobs. Astronomers call the blobs ΓÇ£knots.ΓÇ¥ The brightest radio knots match those observed in x-ray.
