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Accidental discovery shows rare X-shaped galaxies might form more simply than expected

Less than 10% of astronomical radio signals come from X-shaped galaxies.

x-shaped-galaxy-3d-model
A still image taken from the 3D simulation of the natural development of an X-shaped jet. The gas (bright red) falls into the black hole, which launches a pair of relativistic jets (light blue). The jets propagate vertically and shock the ambient gas (dark red) The older cavities (dark blue) buoyantly rise at an angle to the vertically propagating jets to form the X-shape. Credit: Aretaios Lalakos/Northwestern University.