The discovery was made in a The galaxy Called Centaurus A (Cen A), it is located at about 12 Ma. light years Astronomers from Earth have long studied Cen A because it has a A very large black hole At its center are sending magnificent jets that spread across the galaxy. A black hole launches this jet of high-energy particles not from within the black hole, but from the intense gravitational and magnetic fields around it.
The image shows low energy. X-ray Seen by the Moon is represented in pink, intermediate-energy X-rays in purple, and highest-energy X-rays in blue.
In this latest study, the researchers determined that the jet — at least in certain locations — is moving at close to the speed of light. Using the deepest X-ray image ever made of Cen A, they also found a patch of V-shaped emission connected to the bright X-ray source, which had not been seen before in this galaxy.
Called C4, this source is located near the path of the jet from the supermassive black hole and is featured in the inset. The arms of the “V” are at least about 700 light-years long. For context, the nearest star to Earth is about 4 light years away.
Although researchers have ideas about what’s going on, the identity of the exploding object remains a mystery because its details are too far away to be seen, even in images from the most powerful telescopes available.
The hidden object being rammed may be a large star, either by itself or with a companion star. X-rays from C4 can be caused by collisions between particles in the jet and gas in the wind moving away from the star. This collision can create turbulence, which increases the density of the gas in the jet. This, in turn, ignites the X-ray emission seen with the Moon.
However, the shape of the “V” is not fully understood. The trailing X-ray stream behind the source in the lower arm of the “V” is nearly parallel to the jet, consistent with a picture of turbulence that causes increased X-ray emission behind the obstacle in the jet’s path. . The other arm of the “V” is difficult to explain because it has a large jet angle, and astronomers aren’t sure what might explain it.
This is not the first time astronomers have seen a black hole jet in Cen A racing into other objects. There are several other examples where objects striking a jet are objects — possibly giant stars or gas clouds. However, C4 stands out because of its V-shape in X-rays, while other obstructions in the jet path produce oval blobs in the X-ray image. Chandra is the only X-ray observatory capable of observing this feature. Astronomers are trying to determine why C4 has this different shape after contact, but it could be related to the type of object the jet is striking or how directly the jet hits it. is attacking.
A paper describing these results appears in a recent issue of The Astrophysical Journal. Authors of the study are David Bogensberger (University of Michigan), Jon M. Miller (University of Michigan), Richard Mishotsky (University of Maryland), Neil Brandt (Penn State University), Elias Camon (University of Toulouse, France). Abdurrahman Zoghbi (University of Maryland), and Ehud Behar (Israel Institute of Technology).
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
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The release features a series of images focusing on the collision between a jet of matter ejected from a distant black hole and a mysterious, invisible object.
There is a bright white dot in the center of the primary image, surrounded by a faint purplish-blue ring tinted with neon blue. This is the black hole at the center of the galaxy called Centaurus A. The outflow from a black hole is a stream of ejected matter. This stream, or jet, moves in two opposite directions. It moves towards us, widens as it reaches our upper left, and recedes away from us, becoming thinner and more faint as it moves to the lower right. In the base image, the jet resembles a trail of hot pink smoke. Other pockets of granular, hot pink gas can be found throughout the image. Here, pink represents low-energy X-rays observed by the Moon, purple represents intermediate-energy X-rays, and blue represents high-energy X-rays.
Near our lower right, where the jet is thinnest, is a distinct pink “V”, its arms opening to our lower right. The mark is believed to be the result of the jet hitting an unknown object that was in its path. A labeled version of the image highlights this region, and names the V-shaped point, the hidden object, C4. A wide-view version of the image is composited with the optical data.
At Cen A distance, the arms of the V-shape appear quite short. In fact, each arm is at least 700 light-years long. The jet itself is 30,000 light years across. For context, the nearest star to the Sun is about 4 light years away.
Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Centre
Cambridge, Mass.
617-496-7998
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
Lane Figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov