|
Added 1 new A* page:NASA just linked to a Caltech article on the first-ever measurement of temperature swings from "winds" emanating from an active black hole. The research, using NASA's orbiting NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) X-ray telescope and the ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray space telescope, measured the active supermassive black hole at the center of "galaxy IRAS 13224-3809 in the constellation Centaurus," which is apparently about 1.3 billion light years away. Observing the "winds" of gas shooting out of the black hole's accretion disc at 1/4 light speed, the scientists noticed that the gas would stop and start absorbing certain parts of the X-rays coming from "the edge of the black hole" within spans of a few hours. "The team concluded that the X-rays were actually heating up the winds to very high temperatures—millions of degrees Fahrenheit—such that they became incapable of absorbing any more X-rays. The winds then cool off, and the absorption features return, starting the cycle over again. 'This is the first time we have seen that winds are interacting with the black hole's radiation.'"
|
