Black Hole Destroys A Galaxy From The Inside; Is The Whole Universe To Follow?

A galaxy that is about 150 million light years away from Earth is being eaten up by its black hole heart. Could this black hole feed on the whole universe next? And why does this galaxy have a black hole for a heart?

The NGC 4696 is a galaxy that has string-like clouds swirling around it, Science Alert reports. It is found among the galaxy cluster in the Centaurus constellation. And what makes it more unique is that NGC 4696 has a black hole in its very center. This black hole both produced and is now consuming the said galaxy.

NASA, with the use of the Hubble Space Telescope, was able to capture the black hole devouring NGC 4696, reports The Huffington Post. It's both a fascinating and eery sight since there are not many galaxies are captured during this kind of scenario. However, though this could be a breakthrough for the Hubble Telescope, it's still alarming that a black hole is actively eating up a galaxy. What if it targets the other galaxies in the universe next?

Astronomers from the University of Cambridge and the European Space Agency (ESA) have studied the telescope's recorded incident further. They have gathered that the "filaments" surrounding the galaxy are measured to be 200 light years away and has gas that is 10 times in density than the usual, according to a Space.com report.

Meanwhile, further reports suggest that while other galaxies are being lit up by nearby stars, some bigger ones get light from black holes feeding on them. However, there is no need to worry about these black holes feeding on the entire universe because at some point they eventually stop eating.

Black holes are able to help the galaxies light up by feeding on them, however, when black holes are starved the galaxies are affected, too. When they stop feeding, they leave enough energy emission to make the galaxies survive for a few more years.