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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Staid to showy: galaxies undergo ultra-quick makeovers

Sedate objects ‘change their look’ after the abrupt awakening of their black holes.
M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, with its companion galaxies.

The Andromeda galaxy (centre) belongs to a group of ordinarily sedate galaxies. Six similar galaxies have morphed to become flamboyantly bright. Credit: Alan Dyer/VWPics/Alamy

Six galaxies have been caught in a dramatic transformation as the black holes at their centres suddenly developed voracious appetites.

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Nature 574, 9 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02899-5

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