Scientists have found a tiny terror of a black hole in the neighboring M83 galaxy. While small in size, the MQ1 black hole still packs quite a punch with a considerable area of influence.
The diminutive but super powered black hole MQ1 was first thought to bigger than it actually is, owing to the sheer power it displays. However, scientists were able to use multiple telescopes to verify that it was a standard small black hole despite its large sphere of influence. The black hole was found in the M83 galaxy, which is around 15 million light years away.
While astronomers have already discovered previous compact objects with the same power as the MQ1, estimating the sizes of the black holes in these systems has proven to be difficult. In fact, the MQ1 is the first object of its kind to be studied thoroughly. The researchers who observed the black hole, published their findings in the online journal Science.
"MQ1 is classed as a microquasar - a black hole surrounded by a bubble of hot gas, which is heated by two jets just outside the black hole, powerfully shooting out energy in opposite directions, acting like cosmic sandblasters pushing out on the surrounding gas," said Roberto Soria, a senior research fellow from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy (ICRAR) in Australia.
While the MQ1 black hole is only about 62 miles wide, the entire MQ1 microquasar system is a lot bigger than our solar system. The black hole also has a pair of jets, one on each side, that reaches out well beyond the MQ1 system. Each jet can reach out to as far as 20 light years away.
"The significance of the huge jet power measured for MQ1 goes beyond this particular galaxy: it helps astronomers understand and quantify the strong effect that black hole jets have on the surrounding gas, which gets heated and swept away," said Soria. "This must have been a significant factor in the early stages of galaxy evolution, 12 billion years ago, because we have evidence that powerful black holes like MQ1, which are rare today, were much more common at the time."
There are two types of black holes: stellar mass black holes and supermassive black holes. A stellar mass black hole will have a mass that is equivalent to around 70 times that of our sun. On the other hand, a supermassive black hole can have a mass that are several million times the mass of our sun. The MQ1 is considered as the former and its discovery can help scientists delve deeper into the mysteries of black holes.
"By studying microquasars such as MQ1, we get a glimpse of how the early universe evolved, how fast quasars grew and how much energy black holes provided to their environment," Soria said. To put in perspective, the most powerful microquasar in our galaxy, the SS433, is about 10 times less powerful than MQ1.
