Astronomers scoured NASA’s decades-old data Chandra X-ray Observatorywe spot bright, rugged features dotted with jets of energy spewed out by nearby black holes. Inexplicably, “knots” exhibit faster speeds in X-rays than in radio wavelengths. the scientists said.
“The X-ray data tracks a unique image that cannot be seen at other wavelengths,” said study lead author David Borgensberger, an astrophysicist at the University of Michigan who led the new research. described in a recent paper. news release. “We’ve demonstrated a new approach to jet research, and I think there’s a lot of interesting work to do.”
The study was published on October 18th. astrophysical journalcomes as NASA delay final decision Regarding budget cuts that will decide the fate of the observatory (the observatory faces early cancellation after its establishment) budget was cut (due to financial limitations of the authorities) and the fault of the X-ray community, which relies on X-rays for research. NASA Despite the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, the 2025 budget continues to operate at 2024 levels, with the 2025 budget dependent on the outcome of the presidential election and partisan changes in the House and Senate. Space News reported.
Meanwhile, astronomers continue to emphasize the scientific value provided by X-ray telescopes. I turned 25 in July..
In the new study, Bogensberger and his team analyzed two decades of Chandra’s observations of active organisms. supermassive black hole The galaxy that lurks in the center of Centaurus is approximately 12 million slightly misshapen elliptical spirals of gas and dust. light years From the earth. At least one of the newly discovered “jet knots” appears to be traveling at 94% speed. speed of lightAccording to the paper, this was 80% faster than the speed of light measured by radio observations.
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“What this means is that the radio and X-ray jet knots behave differently,” Bogensberger said in a statement. “There’s still a lot we don’t understand about how jets work in the X-ray band.”
Although the Centauri Galaxy had already been discovered in the mid-1800s, its twin jets did not come into the field of view of then-new radio telescopes until a century later. According to the study, the northeast one of the jets points toward Earth, while the other, called the counterjet, points toward the southwest and is much darker.
Astronomers know that black hole jets are fueled by material swept up by cosmic giants and ejected before reaching Earth. event horizonit is a boundary around a black hole that traps everything, including light, forever. But exactly how material is funneled into the jet is poorly understood. The prevailing theory suggests a strong and troubling magnetic field around it. black hole And the behemoth’s spin itself may be making an important contribution.
Researchers are puzzled not only by how the observed knots formed, but also by their changes in brightness. Over the course of 20 years, from 2002 to 2022, some knots brightened and others faded. In 2009, astronomers discovered the same trend in the jet knot exploded by the monster black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy, about 55 million light-years from Earth. zodiac sign virgo. For unknown reasons, those knots lighten over the years; surpassed even the bright core of the galaxy before disappearing into the darkness space.
Future studies of jets in Centaurus A and other galaxies will determine whether the knot’s varying speeds and brightness are inherent behavior of jets being blown out of black holes, or whether they are due to external obstructions such as the interstellar medium. may be revealed.
“The key to understanding what’s going on inside a jet may be understanding how different wavelength bands track different parts of the environment,” Bogensberger said in a statement. “Now we have that possibility.”
