Number of Giant Radio Galaxies

Number of Giant Radio Galaxies

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Space

In news

• Indian Researchers working on giant radio galaxies (GRG) at Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) Pune, India and Leiden University, Netherlands, have found nearly 400 new GRGs.

Important value additions

Giant Radio Galaxies (GRG)

• GRGs are large single structures in the universe.
• When some of the radio galaxies grow to enormous sizes, bigger than 33 lakh light years across, they are called giant radio galaxies (GRGs).
• GRGs were discovered in 1974 and until 2016, only about 300 GRGs were known.
• The latest findings indicate that they are over 800.
• It is not clearly understood how some objects grow to such large scales and what is the fuel of their respective black holes.
• The study of GRGs gives important clues to unveiling how massive black holes accrete mass and the efficiency with which they produce the magnificent jets.