Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have found evidence of black hole activity at the center of the nearby spiral galaxy M83 for the first time. Before that, its existence was only assumed.
Galaxy M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, is located 15 million light-years away from Earth toward the constellation Hydra. It is comparable in size to the Milky Way and is also a spiral galaxy with a bar.
M83 has long held a mystery. As a rule, supermassive black holes are located in the centers of massive spiral galaxies. However, over decades of observations, astronomers have never been able to detect any trace of its activity. As a result, it has been hypothesized that if the black hole in M83 exists, it is either in a “dormant” state or is hidden by such a thickness of dust that blocks the radiation emitted by its accretion disk.
Thanks to the unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution of JWST, astronomers have finally succeeded in solving the mystery of M83. The telescope was able to detect highly ionized radiation, the source of which are clusters of neon in the center of the galaxy. It requires a large amount of energy to form — more than supernovae or other stellar processes can provide. This is evidence in favor of the presence of a supermassive black hole in M83.
According to the team that made the discovery, it clearly demonstrates JWST’s ability to find hidden structures inside galaxies and opens the way to new discoveries in black hole astrophysics. As astronomers continue to push the limits of telescope capabilities, the universe’s most elusive mysteries are becoming clearer.
In the near future, the researchers plan to conduct new observations of M83 with the help of other telescopes to further study the nature of the gas and confirm the presence of a supermassive black hole. They will help determine whether the newly detected radiation is definitely coming from it or whether other high-energy processes, like extreme shock waves in the interstellar medium, are involved.
According to Esawebb
