Two galaxies seen in a ‘joust’ preceding a cosmic mega-merger

The intense gravitational strength of the supermassive black hole pulls gas and other material toward it. As this stuff spirals inward at high speed, it heats up due to friction, forming a disk that emits extremely powerful radiation in two opposite directions, called biconical beams.The ultraviolet light from one of these beams is what played havoc with the gas in the companion galaxy.