Astronomers have made a significant breakthrough in understanding how supermassive black holes can create their own “food”. Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Telescope (VLT) suggest that black hole outbursts help cool the surrounding gas, which then powers them.
Observations and discoveries
The study covered seven galaxy clusters that contain the largest black holes with masses ranging from millions to billions of solar masses. Observations have shown that flows of matter ejected by black holes form filaments of warm gas.
The images obtained during the study show two clusters, Perseus and Centaurus. Chandra X-ray data (blue) show a distribution of hot gas, while VLT optical images (red) reflect cooler gas structures.
Mechanism of process
The results confirmed the model according to which black hole outbursts cause cooling of the heated gas. Part of this gas rushes to the center of galaxies, re-activating black holes and causing new outbursts that sustain the process.
For the first time, a clear relationship between the brightness of hot and cooled gas in the centers of clusters was established: in brighter regions of hot gas, cool gas also glows more intensely. This confirms the model of interaction between black holes and their environment.
Similarities have also been found between gas filaments in clusters and the tails of jellyfish galaxies, which lose gas as they move through the intergalactic medium. This discovery indicates similar processes at different scales of the Universe.
This study greatly expands the understanding of how black holes affect star formation and galaxy evolution.
Participation of international researchers
The study was led by Valeria Olivares of the University of Santiago de Chile, and the results are published in the journal Nature Astronomy. The project involved scientists from the United States, Chile, Australia, Canada and Italy, using the MUSE instrument on the VLT to create three-dimensional images of space objects.
The Chandra program is overseen by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and science operations are managed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
According to sci.news
