This animation shows the changing appearance of active galaxy TXS 0128 at six radio wavelengths measured by the Very Long Baseline Array: 2.3, 5, 6.6, 8.4, 15.4, and 22.2 gigahertz (GHz).
Alternatively, at 2.3 GHz, the galaxy looks like an amorphous blob, and then at 15.4 GHz, a clear gap appears between the core and its jets. The TIE fighter shape emerges at 6.6 gigahertz (GHz). The galaxy's shape looks different depending on the radio frequency used. Lister said viewing the galaxy core at various radio frequencies yielded new information on how active galaxies change dramatically over time. Not only was the symbol a "fun surprise," its appearance actually helped researchers. "The first time I saw the results, I immediately thought it looked like Darth Vader's TIE fighter spacecraft from 'Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.'"
"After the Fermi announcement, we zoomed in a million times closer on the galaxy using the VLBA's radio antennas and charted its shape over time," Matthew Lister, a professor of physics and astronomy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, said in a news release. Researchers additionally used the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory to further observe the galaxy. Years of data were needed to confirm the finding because TXS 0128 is about 100,000 times less powerful than most of the other 3,000 active galaxies observed. Scientists have been studying the galaxy for about five years, after NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope reported that it is a source of gamma rays, the highest-energy form of light. The colors correspond to the radio signal's intensity, from low (purple) to high (yellow). This image shows TXS 0128 at 15.4 gigahertz as observed by the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a globe-spanning network of radio antennas. Around one-tenth of active galaxies produce these jets - which appear in this case like the starfighter's wings - when gas and dust build and heat up due to gravitational and frictional forces.
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