http://www.esa.int/esl/ESA_in_your_country/Spain/Los_cambios_rapidos_apuntan_al_origen_de_los_veloces_vientos_en_los_agujeros_negros
Un agujero negro con vientos ultrarrápidos
Los cambios rápidos apuntan al origen de los veloces vientos en los agujeros negros
2 marzo 2017
Telescopios de la ESA y de la NASA han obtenido la observación más detallada hasta la fecha de un viento ultrarrápido procedente de los alrededores de un agujero negro, a casi un cuarto de la velocidad de la luz.
Las proyecciones de gas son un fenómeno común en los agujeros negros supermasivos situados en el centro de grandes galaxias. Hasta miles de millones más masivos que el Sol, estos agujeros negros se alimentan de los remolinos de gas a su alrededor. Así, lo que los telescopios espaciales detectan son brillantes emisiones, incluyendo rayos X, procedentes del interior del disco que rodea el agujero negro.
En ocasiones, los agujeros negros “se llenan” tanto que terminan por expulsar un viento ultrarrápido. Estos vientos resultan de gran interés, ya que podrían tener una gran influencia a la hora de regular el crecimiento de su galaxia anfitriona, al eliminar el gas circundante y, en consecuencia, impedir el nacimiento de estrellas.
Gracias a los telescopios XMM-Newton de la ESA y de la NASA, los científicos han podido observar con el mayor detalle hasta la fecha una de estas emisiones, procedente de una galaxia activa identificada como IRAS 13224-3809. Los vientos registrados alcanzan 71.000 km/h —0,24 veces la velocidad de la luz—, por lo que se encontrarían entre el 5% de los vientos más rápidos procedentes de agujeros negros conocidos.
XMM-Newton pasó 17 días seguidos observando el agujero negro, revelando así la naturaleza extremadamente variable de los vientos.
“A menudo realizamos una única observación de un objeto concreto y, meses o incluso años después, volvemos a observarlo para ver si se ha producido algún cambio”, explica Michael Parker, del Instituto de Astronomía de la Universidad de Cambridge, en el Reino Unido, y autor principal del artículo publicado en Nature esta semana describiendo el nuevo resultado.
“Gracias a esta larga campaña de observación, hemos descubierto por primera vez cambios en los vientos en una escala temporal de menos de una hora”.
Los cambios se detectaron en la temperatura creciente de los vientos, que constituye una señal de su respuesta a una mayor emisión de rayos X procedentes del disco adyacente al agujero negro.
Las observaciones también mostraron cambios en la huella química del gas proyectado: a medida que la emisión de rayos X aumentaba, los electrones del viento se desprendían de sus átomos, borrando las señales de los vientos vistas en los datos.
“La huella química del viento cambió en menos de una hora debido a la fuerza de los rayos X, con una velocidad cientos de veces mayor que la detectada hasta ahora”, explica Andrew Fabian, del mismo Instituto de Astronomía, coautor del artículo e investigador principal del proyecto.
“Esto nos permite vincular la emisión de rayos X procedente del material que caía al agujero negro a la variabilidad del viento que se expulsaba más allá”.
Como añade Norbert Schartel, científico del proyecto XMM-Newton de la ESA: “Detectar esta variabilidad —y demostrar este vínculo— es un paso clave para comprender cómo se producen y se aceleran los vientos de los agujeros negros, algo que también es esencial para entender su capacidad de moderar la formación de estrellas en la galaxia anfitriona”.
Nota para los editores
“The response of relativistic outflowing gas to the inner accretion disk of a black hole,” de M. Parker et al. está publicado en Nature.
Explora la galaxia IRAS 13224-3809 en EsaSky
For further information, please contact: a vuelo
Markus Bauer
ESA Science and Robotic Exploration Communication Officer
Tel: +31 71 565 6799
Mob: +31 61 594 3 954
Email: markus.bauer@esa.int
Michael ParkerESA Science and Robotic Exploration Communication Officer
Tel: +31 71 565 6799
Mob: +31 61 594 3 954
Email: markus.bauer@esa.int
Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK
Email: mlparker@ast.cam.ac.uk
Andrew Fabian
Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK
Email: acf@ast.cam.ac.uk
Norbert Schartel
XMM-Newton project scientist
Email: Norbert.Schartel@esa.int
Black hole with ultrafast winds
Rapid changes point to origin of ultra-fast black hole winds
1 March 2017 ESA and NASA space telescopes have made the most detailed observation of an ultra-fast wind flowing from the vicinity of a black hole at nearly a quarter of the speed of light.
Outflowing gas is a common feature of the supermassive black holes that reside in the centre of large galaxies. Millions to billions of times more massive than the Sun, these black holes feed off the surrounding gas that swirls around them. Space telescopes see this as bright emissions, including X-rays, from the innermost part of the disc around the black hole.
Occasionally, the black holes eat too much and burp out an ultra-fast wind. These winds are an important characteristic to study because they could have a strong influence on regulating the growth of the host galaxy by clearing the surrounding gas away and therefore suppressing the birth of stars.
Using ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s NuStar telescopes, scientists have now made the most detailed observation yet of such an outflow, coming from an active galaxy identified as IRAS 13224–3809. The winds recorded from the black hole reach 71 000 km/s – 0.24 times the speed of light – putting it in the top 5% of fastest known black hole winds.
XMM-Newton focused on the black hole for 17 days straight, revealing the extremely variable nature of the winds.
Outflowing gas is a common feature of the supermassive black holes that reside in the centre of large galaxies. Millions to billions of times more massive than the Sun, these black holes feed off the surrounding gas that swirls around them. Space telescopes see this as bright emissions, including X-rays, from the innermost part of the disc around the black hole.
Occasionally, the black holes eat too much and burp out an ultra-fast wind. These winds are an important characteristic to study because they could have a strong influence on regulating the growth of the host galaxy by clearing the surrounding gas away and therefore suppressing the birth of stars.
Using ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s NuStar telescopes, scientists have now made the most detailed observation yet of such an outflow, coming from an active galaxy identified as IRAS 13224–3809. The winds recorded from the black hole reach 71 000 km/s – 0.24 times the speed of light – putting it in the top 5% of fastest known black hole winds.
XMM-Newton focused on the black hole for 17 days straight, revealing the extremely variable nature of the winds.
“We often only have one observation of a particular object, then several months or even years later we observe it again and see if there’s been a change,” says Michael Parker of the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge, UK, lead author of the paper published in Nature this week that describes the new result.
“Thanks to this long observation campaign, we observed changes in the winds on a timescale of less than an hour for the first time.”
The changes were seen in the increasing temperature of the winds, a signature of their response to greater X-ray emission from the disc right next to the black hole.
Furthermore, the observations also revealed changes to the chemical fingerprints of the outflowing gas: as the X-ray emission increased, it stripped electrons in the wind from their atoms, erasing the wind signatures seen in the data.
“Thanks to this long observation campaign, we observed changes in the winds on a timescale of less than an hour for the first time.”
The changes were seen in the increasing temperature of the winds, a signature of their response to greater X-ray emission from the disc right next to the black hole.
Furthermore, the observations also revealed changes to the chemical fingerprints of the outflowing gas: as the X-ray emission increased, it stripped electrons in the wind from their atoms, erasing the wind signatures seen in the data.
“The chemical fingerprints of the wind changed with the strength of the X-rays in less than an hour, hundreds of times faster than ever seen before,” says co-author Andrew Fabian, also from the Institute of Astronomy and principal investigator of the project.
“It allows us to link the X-ray emission arising from the infalling material into the black hole, to the variability of the outflowing wind farther away.”
“Finding such variability, and finding evidence for this link, is a key step in understanding how black hole winds are launched and accelerated, which in turn is an essential part of understanding their ability to moderate star formation in the host galaxy,” adds Norbert Schartel, ESA’s XMM-Newton project scientist.
“It allows us to link the X-ray emission arising from the infalling material into the black hole, to the variability of the outflowing wind farther away.”
“Finding such variability, and finding evidence for this link, is a key step in understanding how black hole winds are launched and accelerated, which in turn is an essential part of understanding their ability to moderate star formation in the host galaxy,” adds Norbert Schartel, ESA’s XMM-Newton project scientist.
Notes for Editors “The response of relativistic outflowing gas to the inner accretion disk of a black hole,” by M. Parker et al. is published in Nature.
Explore IRAS 13224-3809 data in EsaSky.
For further information, please contact:
Markus Bauer
ESA Science and Robotic Exploration Communication Officer
Tel: +31 71 565 6799
Mob: +31 61 594 3 954
Email: markus.bauer@esa.int
Michael Parker
Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK
Email: mlparker@ast.cam.ac.uk
Andrew Fabian
Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK
Email: acf@ast.cam.ac.uk
Norbert Schartel
XMM-Newton project scientist
Email: Norbert.Schartel@esa.int
Explore IRAS 13224-3809 data in EsaSky.
For further information, please contact:
Markus Bauer
ESA Science and Robotic Exploration Communication Officer
Tel: +31 71 565 6799
Mob: +31 61 594 3 954
Email: markus.bauer@esa.int
Michael Parker
Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK
Email: mlparker@ast.cam.ac.uk
Andrew Fabian
Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK
Email: acf@ast.cam.ac.uk
Norbert Schartel
XMM-Newton project scientist
Email: Norbert.Schartel@esa.int
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
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