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JWST Maps Gas Filament Feeding Black Hole in NGC 4696

7/16/2026

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Summary

Story summary

U.S. scientists using JWST captured images of galaxy NGC 4696 that show a gas filament feeding a disk around its supermassive black hole.
Eight hours of JWST NIRSpec data mapped gas at ~30-light-year resolution, revealing an 800-light-year disk orbiting at ~600 km/s and a large infalling filament channeling cool gas inward.
Simulations matched the observations, supporting the July 14 2026 Astrophysical Journal Letters magnetic-field feeding model.

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Story summary

U.S. scientists using JWST captured images of galaxy NGC 4696 that show a gas filament feeding a disk around its supermassive black hole.
Eight hours of JWST NIRSpec data mapped gas at ~30-light-year resolution, revealing an 800-light-year disk orbiting at ~600 km/s and a large infalling filament channeling cool gas inward.
Simulations matched the observations, supporting the July 14 2026 Astrophysical Journal Letters magnetic-field feeding model.