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(CNN) — Two powerful NASA telescopes have detected the oldest and most distant black hole ever found.
Data captured via energetic X-rays by the Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope has helped astronomers spot the signature of a growing black hole within the early universe just 470 million years after the big bang, which occurred 13.8 billion years ago.
The discovery, described in a study published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, may help astronomers piece together how some of the first supermassive black holes formed in the cosmos.
“We needed Webb to find this remarkably distant galaxy and Chandra to find its supermassive black hole,” said lead study author Akos Bogdan, in a statement. “We also took advantage of a cosmic magnifying glass that boosted the amount of light we detected.” Bogdan is an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He was referring to an effect called gravitational lensing, which occurs when closer objects — in this case a galactic cluster — act like a magnifying glass for distant objects. Gravity essentially warps and amplifies the light of distant galaxies in the background of whatever is doing the magnifying, enabling observations of otherwise invisible celestial features.
Astronomers detected the black hole in a galaxy called UHZ1. At first glance, the galaxy appeared in the same direction as a cluster of galaxies known as Abell 2744, which is located about 3.5 billion light-years from Earth. But data collected by the Webb telescope showed that UHZ1 is actually much farther away and located beyond the cluster at 13.2 billion light-years from Earth.
A light-year, equivalent to 5.88 trillion miles, is how far a beam of light travels in a year. Given the distance between Earth and the objects from the early days of the universe, when telescopes like Webb observe this light, it’s effectively like looking into the past.
The team used the Chandra Observatory to detect superheated gas releasing X-rays within UHZ1, the telltale sign of a supermassive black hole growing in size.
The detection was made possible by the Abell cluster of galaxies, which intensified the light of the UHZ1 galaxy and the X-rays released by the black hole by a factor of four.
Decoding a cosmic mystery
Astronomers think the discovery will help them to better understand how supermassive black holes appeared and reached their monstrous masses so soon after the beginning of the universe.
The researchers want to know whether the giant celestial objects formed when massive clouds of gas collapsed or if they resulted from the explosions of the very first massive stars.
“There are physical limits on how quickly black holes can grow once they’ve formed, but ones that are born more massive have a head start. It’s like planting a sapling, which takes less time to grow into a full-size tree than if you started with only a seed,” said Andy Goulding, research scholar in astrophysical sciences at Princeton University in New Jersey.
He is a coauthor on the Nature Astronomy paper and lead author of another paper on the UHZ1 galaxy published in September in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The team reporting its results in the Nature Astronomy paper had discovered that the distant black hole’s mass is similar to the entire mass of all of the stars within the galaxy that hosts it. The mass falls somewhere between that of 10 million and 100 million suns, judging by the brightness and energy of the X-rays emitted by it, the researchers said.
Potential black hole theory
Typically, black holes located at the centers of galaxies only have about 0.1% the mass of the stars within their host galaxy.
The unusual black hole could be an “Outsize Black Hole” that formed when a huge cloud of gas collapsed, as theorized in 2017 by Priyamvada Natarajan, a coauthor on both studies and the Joseph S. and Sophia S. Fruton professor of astronomy and professor of physics at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
“We think that this is the first detection of an ‘Outsize Black Hole’ and the best evidence yet obtained that some black holes form from massive clouds of gas,” Natarajan said. “For the first time we are seeing a brief stage where a supermassive black hole weighs about as much as the stars in its galaxy, before it falls behind.”
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Kumbuka Mhariri: Jiandikishe kwa jarida la sayansi la CNN la Wonder Theory. Kuchunguza ulimwengu na habari juu ya uvumbuzi wa kuvutia, maendeleo ya kisayansi na zaidi. Teleskopi mbili za NASA zimegundua shimo jeusi la zamani zaidi na lililo mbali zaidi kuwahi kupatikana. Takwimu zilizopigwa kupitia mionzi ya X-ray ya Chandra na darubini ya angani ya James Webb zimesaidia wataalamu wa nyota kutambua ishara ya shimo jeusi lililokuwa likikua katika ulimwengu wa mapema miaka milioni 470 tu baada ya mlipuko mkubwa, uliofanyika miaka bilioni 13.8 iliyopita. Ugunduzi huo, ulioelezwa katika utafiti uliochapishwa Jumatatu katika jarida la Nature Astronomy, unaweza kuwasaidia wataalamu wa nyota kuunganisha jinsi baadhi ya mashimo meusi makubwa ya kwanza yalivyoundwa katika anga. "Tulitaka Webb kupata galaxy hii ya mbali sana na Chandra kupata shimo lake nyeusi kubwa", alisema mwandishi mkuu wa utafiti Akos Bogdan, katika taarifa. "Bogdan ni mwanasayansi wa nyota katika Kituo cha Harvard-Smithsonian cha Astrophysics huko Cambridge, Massachusetts.""" Alirejelea athari inayoitwa gravitational lensing, ambayo hutokea wakati vitu vilivyo karibu - katika kesi hii kundi la galaksi - vinatenda kama kioo cha kupanua kwa vitu vilivyo mbali. Kwa kweli, nguvu ya uvutano hufanya mwangaza wa galaksi za mbali uongezeke na kuongezeka, na hivyo kufanya iwezekane kuchunguza vitu vingine visivyoonekana. Wataalamu wa nyota wamegundua shimo jeusi katika galaksi inayoitwa UHZ1. Kwa mtazamo wa kwanza, galaxy hiyo ilionekana katika mwelekeo uleule kama kundi la galaxi linalojulikana kama Abell 2744 ambalo liko umbali wa miaka ya mwanga bilioni 3.5 kutoka duniani. Lakini data zilizokusanywa na Webb Telescope zilionyesha kwamba UHZ1 kwa kweli iko mbali zaidi na iko zaidi ya kundi hilo, umbali wa miaka 13.2 bilioni ya mwanga kutoka duniani. Mwaka mwanga (lit. light year) ni umbali wa maili bilioni 5.88 ambao mwangaza wa mwanga husafiri kwa mwaka mmoja. Kwa kuzingatia umbali kati ya Dunia na vitu kutoka siku za mapema za ulimwengu, wakati darubini kama Webb kuchunguza mwanga huu, ni kwa ufanisi kama kuangalia katika siku za nyuma. Chandra Observatory ilichunguza gesi yenye joto la juu iliyokuwa ikitoa miale ya X ndani ya UHZ1, ishara ya kuonekana kwa shimo jeusi kubwa zaidi. Ugunduzi huo ulifanywa kwa sababu ya kundi la galaksi la Abell, ambalo liliongeza mwangaza wa galaksi ya UHZ1 na miale ya X iliyotolewa na shimo jeusi kwa sababu ya nne. Wataalamu wa nyota wanaamini kwamba uvumbuzi huu utawasaidia kuelewa vizuri zaidi jinsi mashimo meusi makubwa yalivyotokea na kufikia uzito wao mkubwa hivi karibuni baada ya mwanzo wa ulimwengu. Watafiti wanataka kujua kama vitu hivyo vikubwa vya angani viliumbwa wakati mawingu makubwa ya gesi yalipoanguka au kama yalitokana na milipuko ya nyota kubwa za kwanza kabisa. Kuna mipaka ya kimwili juu ya jinsi haraka mashimo meusi inaweza kukua mara moja wao wamekuwa umbo, lakini wale ambao ni kuzaliwa zaidi kubwa na kuanza mbele. "Ni kama kupanda mti mdogo, ambao huchukua muda mfupi kukua kuwa mti kamili kuliko ikiwa ungeanza na mbegu tu, ""alisema Andy Goulding, msomi wa utafiti katika sayansi ya astrophysical katika Chuo Kikuu cha Princeton huko New Jersey." Yeye ni mwandishi mwenza wa karatasi ya Nature Astronomy na mwandishi mkuu wa karatasi nyingine juu ya galaksi ya UHZ1 iliyochapishwa mnamo Septemba katika The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Timu hiyo iliripoti matokeo yake katika jarida la Nature Astronomy, ikigundua kwamba wingi wa shimo jeusi hilo la mbali ni sawa na wingi wa nyota zote katika galaksi inayomiliki. Kiasi hicho kinagharimu karibu nishati ya jua milioni 10 hadi milioni 100, kulingana na mwangaza na nishati ya miale ya X inayotokana na jua hilo. Kwa kawaida, mashimo meusi yaliyo katikati ya galaksi huwa na uzito wa asilimia 0.1 tu ya nyota zilizo ndani ya galaksi yao. "Kutoka kwa utafiti huo, ""Outsize Black Hole"" inaweza kuonekana kama ""kubwa sana"" ambayo ilitokea wakati wingu kubwa la gesi lilipoporomoka, kama ilivyopendekezwa na Priyambhava Natarajan, mwandishi wa utafiti huo na profesa wa nyota wa Chuo Kikuu cha Yale huko New Haven, Connecticut." "Tunafikiri kwamba hii ni kugundua kwa mara ya kwanza ya "Outsize Black Hole" na ushahidi bora bado kupatikana kwamba baadhi ya mashimo nyeusi kuunda kutoka mawingu makubwa ya gesi", Natarajan alisema. "Kwa mara ya kwanza tunaona hatua fupi ambapo shimo jeusi kubwa sana lina uzito kama nyota katika galaksi yake, kabla ya kuanguka nyuma. "" - Cable News Network, Inc., Warner Bros." Kampuni ya Ugunduzi. Haki zote zimehifadhiwa.