Astronomers Find Early Fast-Feeding Black Hole Using NASA Telescopes
November 13, 2024 16:45
NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Large Telescope have discovered a black hole that was feeding rapidly in the early universe, just 900 million years after the Big Bang.
The black hole is called PSO J352.4034-15.3373, and it is located in the constellation Pisces. It is about 10 times the mass of the Sun, and it is surrounded by a disk of gas and dust that is falling into the black hole.
The disk is very hot, and it emits X-rays that were detected by Chandra. The disk is also very large, and it is rotating at a high speed. This suggests that the black hole is feeding rapidly.
“This is the first time we have seen a black hole feeding rapidly in the early universe,” said study lead author Emanuele Daddi of the University of Florence in Italy. “This discovery provides new insights into the formation and growth of black holes in the early universe.”
The researchers believe that the black hole was formed from the collapse of a massive star. The star was about 100 times the mass of the Sun, and it collapsed into a black hole when it ran out of fuel.
The black hole is now surrounded by a disk of gas and dust that is falling into the black hole. The disk is very hot, and it emits X-rays that were detected by Chandra. The disk is also very large, and it is rotating at a high speed. This suggests that the black hole is feeding rapidly.
The researchers believe that the black hole is a very early example of a “quasar.” Quasars are extremely luminous galaxies that are powered by the accretion of matter onto a supermassive black hole.
“This discovery provides new insights into the formation and growth of black holes in the early universe,” said study co-author Roberto Gilli of the University of Ferrara in Italy. “It also provides new evidence for the existence of quasars in the early universe.”
The study was published in the Astrophysical Journal.
Astronomers Find Early Fast-Feeding Black Hole Using NASA Telescopes
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