2023-08-07 04:00:17
Astronomers have detected strange changes in a jet of plasma emitted by a small black hole in the middle of a meal.
A representation of a stellar-mass black hole emitting a microquasar (inset), captured by the FAST telescope.
Image: Wei Wang,/Université de Wuhan
The phenomenon is akin to periodic changes in the jet. These variations, which occur in a fraction of a second, were spotted by the FAST Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope in China. The system consists of a star orbiting a black hole (In astrophysics, a black hole is a massive object whose gravitational field is so intense…) of stellar mass (Stellaria is a genus of annual herbaceous plants or perennials, the stellar, from the…) named GRS 1915+105, formed after the death of a massive star (The word massive can be used as:). As the star orbits, some of its matter (Matter is the substance that makes up any body that has a tangible reality. Its…) is sucked into the black hole (The Black Hole is a movie sci-fi film directed by Gary Nelson,…). However, it does not ingest all the matter: some is projected in the form of jets from its poles.
GRS 1915+105 is what is called a microquasar. Unlike quasars which are a category of supermassive black holes, microquasars are on a stellar scale.
Scientists think that these energy changes could result from the misalignment between the rotation of the black hole and its accretion disk (Accretion means in astrophysics, geology and meteorology the increase by…). This could cause the jet to oscillate like a top. When the jet is far away, its energy decreases, then returns to normal. Wei Wang, professor of astrophysics (Astrophysics (from the Greek astro = star and physiqui = physics) is a branch…) at the University (A university is a higher education institution whose objective is the. ..) from Wuhan, pointed out that the signal had a periodicity of about 0.2 seconds. These signals are not constant and only appear under certain conditions.
Bing Zhang, an astronomer at the University of Nevada, thinks the jet could experience a precession (The mathematical formula that describes the precession of a quantity is written), regularly changing direction. This phenomenon could be due to the misalignment between the axis of rotation of the black hole and the disc of gas and dust which surrounds it.
These observations are important for understanding black holes and their surrounding systems. Indeed, they could shed light on the “eating habits” of smaller black holes. The research (Scientific research designates in the first place all the actions undertaken with a view to…) was published in the July 26 edition of the journal Nature.
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