Astronomers find that a pair of black holes in an activity galactic nucleus (AGN) could cause the resulting jet to meander and wobble.
The idea of a precessing warped accretion disk around one supermassive black hole is interesting because that motion could affect the jets. It also plays a role in those periodic changes in brightness. That effect shows up in some other galaxies, too. But, what else could cause the precession? Britzen and the team investigated an object called OJ 287 to see if it could give some clues. It appears to have two black holes—essentially a black hole binary—at its core.
How would that work? It’s complex, but essentially, you have two black holes doing an orbital dance in the center of the galaxy. One black hole is emitting the jet and the other one’s gravitational influence affects the appearance and behavior of the jet. According to Michal Zajacek, who is a co-author of the study with Britzen, it helps explain the jet’s appearance. “Physics of accretion disks and jets is rather complex but their bulk kinematics can be compared to simple gyroscopes,” he said.
Britzen and colleagues investigated OJ 287 and other prominent AGNs using radio observations since these objects are bright radio sources. High-resolution studies took advantage of Very Long Baseline Radio Interferometry techniques. This connected several telescopes over long distances to focus in on the very distant galaxy cores. This is the same technique that allowed the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration to image the shadow of a black hole for the first time, observing the 6.
The team also modeled the precession of the jets, plus a factor called nutation. That’s a periodic variation in the jet’s axis of inclination. Think of it as a slight rocking or swaying as the jet precesses. That nutation was also a clue pointing at the possible existence of a second black hole. The team applied the model to the OJ 287 jet.The result seems to point strongly toward the binary black hole action at the heart of this and other AGNS.
Britzen and the team hope that this work will lead to further studies of blazars. They suggest in their paper that others will move forward with long-term VLBI observations and studies of the spectral energy distribution of the light from these objects and their jets.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
Peering Into the Cosmic Dawn: Researchers Detect the Host Galaxies of Quasars in the Early UniverseThe James Webb Space Telescope has unveiled images that show, for the first time, starlight from two colossal galaxies with actively growing black holes, known as quasars, observed less than a billion years after the Big Bang. A recent study, published in the journal Nature, indicates that black
Consulte Mais informação »
USDA warns frozen chicken strips could contain chunks of plasticThe USDA issued a Class I recall, meaning consumption could 'cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.'
Consulte Mais informação »
Conagra Brands recalls nearly 250,000 pounds of frozen Banquet chicken strips that may contain plasticMore than 245,000 pounds of frozen Banquet chicken strips have been recalled because they could contain pieces of plastic.
Consulte Mais informação »
Banquet frozen chicken meals recalled, may contain plastic piecesA recall alert has been issued for nearly 250,000 pounds of Banquet frozen chicken strip entrees across the U.S. due to the products containing “extraneous materials,” according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Consulte Mais informação »
Crews quickly contain small grass fire north of EvergreenCrews responded Monday to a small grass fire near Rainbow Hill Road, north of Evergreen and the El Rancho exit. Area residents were put in pre-evacuation orders, but crews nearly fully contained th…
Consulte Mais informação »
Greece wildfire eases as hundreds of firefighters battle to contain blazeOver the weekend, reinforcements arrived to combat the wildfire in Greece's northeastern region near the Turkish border, with over 700 firefighters and dozens of vehicles.
Consulte Mais informação »