The structure leads to several massive plumes and streams of stars produced by the interaction with the aforementioned grand-design spiral galaxy.

However, diffuse high-speed gas within the plume suggests an origin within the Whirlpool Galaxy and not NGC 5195.

[8] In January 2016, BBC science reporter Jonathan Webb said, "Astronomers have spotted two huge waves of gas being 'burped' by the black hole at the heart of a nearby galaxy.

This vast, rippling belch is taking place in NGC 5195 – a small, neglected sibling of the 'Whirlpool Galaxy', 26 million light years away.

He added, "The findings, presented at the 227th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Florida, are a dramatic example of 'feedback' between a supermassive black hole and its host galaxy".

[9] Webb's report cited Marie Machacek, co-author of the study from the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CFA), as saying, "We think that feedback keeps galaxies from becoming too large ...

[2] It was found 10″ northwest of the nucleus on April 6, 1945, by Milton L. Humason using the 100-inch (2.5 m) telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory.