Astronomers from the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics recently uncovered more than 400 previously unknown black holes in the center of galaxies.
Astronomers Discovered 400 Previously Hidden Black Holes
For years, astronomers have known that there are supermassive black holes, millions of times heavier than the sun, living in the center of almost every galaxy.
According to the story by Live Science, a new study led by Dong-Woo Kim of the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has uncovered more than 400 previously hidden black holes that remain unknown until now.
The Entities were Spotted by the NASA Chandra X-Ray Observatory
These mysterious entities have been located and identified as having an optical inconsistency thanks to NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. According to NASA, the bright beams of energy created by the colossal objects result in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN).
According to research presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting, these black holes are agglomerations of dust and stars feeding off the supermassive black holes that seem to inhabit the centers of almost all galaxies.
820 Objects were Identified Between 550 Million to 7.8 Billion Light-Years Away
The X-ray energy produced as a result of this activity is known as Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Dong-Woo Kim and his team of astronomers used Chandra's catalog of over 300,000 bright objects, in tandem with optical images of the night sky from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, to identify 820 objects located between 550 million and 7.8 billion light-years away.
He termed these unique objects "X-ray bright optically normal galaxies" or "XBONGS." Further investigation of the XBONGS led Kim to conclude that 50% of these objects were AGNs obscured by large dust clouds.
The 400 Plus Hidden Black Holes Result in a Breakthrough for Astronomy
He discussed the possibility that the remaining XBONGS were distant galaxies or that their optical light was extremely powerful and bright, washing out the optical AGN signature.
He hopes further investigations will answer the remaining questions surrounding these mysterious entities. Kim's uncovering of 400+ hidden black holes is a breakthrough in astronomy, helping to further our understanding of the universe and its many mysterious components.
The Remaining Half of the Mysterious Objects May or May Not Contain AGN
Kim believes the remaining half of these mysterious objects could be extremely distant clusters of galaxies that may or may not contain AGNs. It is also possible that their optical light is particularly powerful, strong enough to wash out the AGN signature.
The researchers hope that further analysis from Chandra and other investigations will help answer the questions about these strange and distant entities. These new discoveries offer an exciting opportunity for further exploration of the universe, showing how much about the cosmos remains to be discovered.
Kim suggests that the remaining half are distant clusters of galaxies that may be too far away to display a clear optical signature or galaxies that are particularly far away, whose optical light is so powerful it washes out the AGN signature.
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