When a black hole blinks at you

A Michigan State University researcher saw that the use of the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory telescope came from a black hole.

“Every large galaxy has a supermassive black hole, but the exact nature of the relationship between the two remains mysterious.” Stephen DikerbyAssistant in Physics and Astronomy Research at the School of Natural Sciences. “After analyzing the data, [from the Chandra telescope]I felt chill because I realized I was looking at X-rays from a flash of a supermass black hole. ”

Black holes have a mysterious halo. They are invisible monsters in the universe, but scientists around the world have not shy away from these behemoths. They use them as laboratories for physics and astronomy research.

Super-large black holes are objects of millions or billions of times, and the mass of the sun is stuffed into such a small space that even light cannot escape. Materials falling into the strength of a black hole will heat to extreme temperatures.

X-rays in the environment near supermassive black holes can be observed using telescopes, such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory that rotates the Earth.

Dikerby, too Icecube Neutrino Observatoryhis collaborators examined the 15-year data collected by Chandra. They then pieced together a record of X-ray light generated by a supermassive black hole called M31 Star or M31*.

Their research provides insights into the unique relationship between the Milky Way and the black hole. This is crucial to understand how the universe has developed over the past 14 billion years. Their analysis results were recently published in Journal of Astrophysics.

It begins with a series of neutrino crumbs

This story starts not with black holes but with neutrinos, but with neutrinos – tiny electrically neutral particles that amplify space to Earth. Dikerby and his ICECUBE colleagues follow neutrinos like a trace of breadcrumbs traveling through space to gain a deeper understanding of how the most extreme systems in the universe function. Neutrinos may be generated by an environment near M31* (for example, M31*).

“Chandra has such a great spatial resolution that it can squeeze the M31*’s X-ray emissions from three other X-ray sources from Andromeda’s core. This is the only telescope that can do that,” Dickby said. “We were able to reconstruct the images – like zoom and enhancement images on police TV shows, to separate emissions to measure only the X-rays of the M31*, not the other sources.”

Blinking photons illuminate the black hole

They determined that the M31* has been in an elevated state since the dramatic X-ray flare popped up in 2006. They also found that M31* experienced another X-ray flare in 2013 and then settled in the post-2006 state. This discovery coincides with recent discoveries from IceCube, which links flares associated with neutrinos in another galaxy to its supermassive black. These results show how observations of nearby supermassive black holes reveal a time window for possible neutrino emissions.

Their work utilizes the precise locations of four X-ray sources, deep in the Andromeda galaxies – the precise locations of S1, SSS, N1 and P2 to find out the locations of supermass black holes to P2.

Dikerby compared the X-ray brightness of these subjects with the X-ray brightness standing at one end area and measured the intensity of the four flickering candles at the end of the football field. With the power and resolution of the Chandra telescope, the team can differentiate the data to isolate each neighbor.

This work is only possible due to Chandra’s unique observational ability. Although it continues to work well, the telescope still loses funds. The proposed next-generation telescope Axis is still in its early stages of development and will not operate until the 2030s.

“If Chandra is shut down, the resources to make these beautiful resolution observations will disappear forever,” Dikerby said. “It is crucial to maintain these capabilities and plan for the next generation of telescopes.”

Dikerby hopes that this article inspires people to continue analyzing the data of M31*. Chandra telescope needs maintenance, and future telescope development is planned to continue.

“I hope we keep watching the system, keep watching these flares, and keep writing down the history of super-large black holes,” he said.