Illustration of a Quasar

This artist’s rendering shows a supermassive black hole enshrouded in dust, and strange features in nearby gas. High-energy X-rays from the disk surrounding the black hole interact with this gas and give rise to two unusual features: Tsunamis (light blue) and a Kármán vortex street (orange). Computer simulations show that these phenomena would be very large, on the scale of light-years.

Credits: Illustration by Nima Abkenar