Weber reveals hidden black holes nearby

The James Webb space telescope detected the signature of a supermassive black hole lurking in the center of the Galaxy M83, a discovery that challenges decades of hypotheses about our galaxy neighbors.

Using Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), astronomers identified highly ionized neon lights in the M83’s nuclear – in particular [Ne V] and [Ne VI] – Requires extreme energy levels that ordinary stars cannot produce. This finding provides compelling evidence that until now, the nuclear active galactic nuclear (AGN) has avoided detection.

“Our discovery of highly ionic neon light emissions in the M83 core was unexpected,” said Svea Hernandez, the lead author of the study. “These characteristics require a lot of energy production – more than ordinary stars can produce.

M83 is known as the Southern Windmill Milky Way, and is only 4.6 million light-years in our cosmic backyard. Scientists have used various telescopes to search its centers for decades, but have never determined evidence of finding a black hole. Previous observations suggest that if a supermassive black hole exists there, it must be dormant or hidden behind thick dust.

Webb observations show several compact structures of highly ionic gases near the galactic core. The most important thing is [Ne VI] The emission is only 140 parsecs (about 457 light-years) as a point source and is less than 18 parsecs (59 light-years) in diameter. This emission requires more than 126 electron volts of photon energy, which is much higher than what is usually produced by stellar processes.

“Before Weber, we simply had no tools to detect such weak and highly ionized gas characteristics in the M83’s nucleus,” Hernandez explained. “Now, with incredible mid-infrared sensitivity, we are finally able to explore these hidden depths of the Milky Way and discover what was once invisible.”

The researchers investigated two potential explanations of high ionization emissions: rapid radiative shocks from supernovae or other energy events, and photoionization from AGN. Although impact models may explain the observations, they require an unusually low pre-vibration density. The team’s tailored AGN photoionization model is easier to replicate observed emissions, thus supporting the black hole hypothesis.

“This discovery shows how Weber can achieve an unexpected breakthrough,” said Linda Smith, co-author of the School of Space Telescope Science. “Astronomers believe they have ruled out AGNs in M83, but now we have new evidence to challenge past assumptions and open up new avenues for exploration.”

This discovery suggests Weber’s unprecedented ability to stare into the dust of the universe and discover faint signatures that were invisible to previous observers. This ability suggests that our understanding of even deeply studied galaxies may be incomplete, raising questions about how many other “inactive” galaxies may have hidden black holes.

The researchers plan follow-up studies with other observations to confirm the existence of supermass black holes and better understand their properties and effects on surrounding galaxies.