NASA's Chandra X-ray Telescope and the pan-European radio-frequency telescope Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) have caught one of the most powerful eruptions ever witnessed from a black hole.
This colossal explosion, which occurred billions of years ago, sheds light on the formation of a distinctive pattern of star clusters surrounding two massive galaxies, resembling beads on a string.
Colossal Galaxy Cluster
The discovery occurred in the system SDSS J1531+3414 (SDSS J1531), situated 3.8 billion light-years away from Earth. Utilizing telescopes like NASA's Chandra and the LOFAR, astronomers aimed to unravel the mysteries of this cosmic event.
SDSS J1531 is characterized as a colossal galaxy cluster with hundreds of galaxies, hosting two large galaxies amid a cosmic collision. Surrounding them are 19 large star clusters, forming a distinctive "S" pattern similar to beads on a string.
Through detailed analysis of X-ray, radio, and optical data, astronomers tried to understand the origins of these peculiar star clusters. According to NASA, their investigation unearthed evidence of an ancient and colossal eruption within SDSS J1531.
This eruption is believed to have been triggered by the supermassive black hole residing at the heart of one of the massive galaxies, unleashing an immensely powerful jet into space. As this jet traversed through the cosmos, it displaced the surrounding hot gas, carving out a massive cavity in its wake.
Ancient Cavity
Osase Omoruyi, who led the study at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), likened the discovery of this cavity to uncovering a buried fossil, providing a glimpse into a pivotal event that transpired nearly four billion years ago.
"This ancient cavity, a fossil of the black hole's effect on the host galaxy and its surroundings, tells us about a key event that happened nearly 200 million years earlier in the cluster's history," Omoruyi said in a statement.
Chandra's observations revealed bright X-ray "wings" outlining dense gas around SDSS J1531's center, defining the cavity's boundaries, while LOFAR confirmed with radio emissions from energetic particle remnants.
Astronomers suggest displaced hot gas-cooled, forming cold and warm gas due to black hole activity. Tidal effects from merging galaxies possibly compressed this gas, shaping star clusters in the unique "beads on a string" pattern.
"We've reconstructed a likely sequence of events in this cluster that occurred over a vast range of distances and times. It began with the black hole a tiny fraction of a light-year across forming a cavity almost 500,000 light-years wide", said co-author Grant Tremblay, also from the CfA.
"This single event set in motion the formation of the young star clusters nearly 200 million years later, each a few thousand light-years across," he added.
According to NASA, while the team has detected evidence of radio waves and a cavity stemming from one jet, black holes typically emit two jets in opposing directions. Although radio emission indicative of a second jet has been observed farther from the galaxies, it remains unassociated with a detected cavity.
The team speculates that the signals from the second eruption may have diminished to the point of being undetectable. Omoruyi expressed confidence in their evidence regarding the eruption, emphasizing that further observations using Chandra and LOFAR could provide conclusive confirmation.
By delving deeper into the origins of the detected cavity and potentially uncovering its counterpart on the other side of the black hole, astronomers hope to glean additional insights into the complex mechanisms at play within SDSS J1531.
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