South Africa's MeerKAT telescope has revealed a remarkable cosmic discovery—Inkathazo, a newly identified giant radio galaxy (GRG), whose name means trouble in isiZulu and isiXhosa.
The discovery, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, sheds new light on the evolution of these colossal cosmic structures.
Professor Leah Morabito from our Physics department played a key role in analysing the data and understanding this unique object.
A revolutionary discovery
Giant radio galaxies are powered by supermassive black holes at their centres, releasing plasma jets that extend millions of light-years into space.
Inkathazo's jets stretch an extraordinary 3.3 million light-years—over 32 times the size of the Milky Way.
However, what makes Inkathazo truly intriguing is the unusual shape of its jets and its unexpected location within a dense cluster of galaxies, an environment where such giants are rarely found.
High resolution maps
Professor Morabito was instrumental in the discovery and analysis of Inkathazo, working as part of the international MIGHTEE collaboration, which provided the data.
She said: "This incredible radio image made with the MeerKAT telescope reveals the details of this giant radio galaxy – and we have seen that it's a totally unique object that is interacting with its environment."
Professor Morabito's expertise helped in creating high-resolution spectral age maps, which allowed scientists to track the plasma's age and revealed unexpected energy boosts caused by interactions with surrounding hot gas.
The discovery of Inkathazo is part of a larger effort to explore the southern sky, an area relatively unstudied for giant radio galaxies.
It is the third GRG found in a small region, suggesting that many more may be waiting to be discovered.
