NASA discovered a knot of energy moving at different speeds in the black hole of the Centaurus A galaxy.
Analysis of X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra telescope has revealed unusually bright knots of energy in the stream of energy emanating from the black hole of the Centaurus A galaxy, about 12 million light-years from Earth. It’s worth noting that these “knots” move at a faster rate when observed with X-rays than with radio waves.
David Bogensberger, an astrophysicist at the University of Michigan, is the lead author of the study published above The Astrophysical Journal on October 18, said: “X-ray data shows a unique picture that cannot be seen at any other wavelength.”
The study’s release comes as NASA is delaying a final decision on budget cuts that will determine the fate of the Chandra observatory and the X-ray research community.
According to SpaceNews, NASA is still operating on the 2024 budget even though the new fiscal year has started on October 1, partly because the 2025 budget depends on the results of the US presidential election. Meanwhile, astronomers continue to emphasize the scientific value that the Chandra telescope brings, after 25 years of operation.
Bogensberger’s team analyzed two decades of Chandra observations of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Centaurus A. At least one of the newly discovered “knots” appears to move at a speed of 94%. speed of light, well above the 80% recorded in radio observations.
“This means that X-ray and radio knots travel differently. There’s still a lot we don’t really know about how energy fluxes behave in the X-ray range,” Bogensberger said.
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The Centaurus A galaxy was discovered in the mid-1800s, but it was a century later that its dual jets were seen with radio telescopes. One of the jets points toward the Earth’s northeast, while the other, called the jet, points toward the southwest and is significantly fainter.
Astronomers know that black hole jets are fueled by matter that is swept into the black hole and ejected before it can reach the event horizon. However, the exact mechanism by which matter is introduced into the energy stream is not well understood. The prevailing theory is that the strong and turbulent magnetic fields around the black hole, along with its rotation, may be important factors.
In addition to how the knots are formed, researchers are also puzzled about how their brightness changes. In two decades, from 2002 to 2022, one knot became brighter while another dimmed. In 2009, astronomers discovered similar trends in energy knots emitted by the black hole at the center of galaxy M87, about 55 million light-years from Earth. For unknown reasons, these knots brightened for several years to the point that they were brighter than the galaxy’s core before fading into space.
Further studies of the energy jets of Centaurus A and other galaxies may reveal whether the knot’s different speeds and brightness are intrinsic behaviors of the energy jet as it emanates from the black hole, or due to an external obstacle, such as interstellar matter.