Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered an “exhaust vent” that directs hot gas away from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The vent is about 26,000 light-years from Earth and is connected to a previously discovered chimney-like structure perpendicular to the galactic plane. Chandra's data shows a cylindrical tunnel that helps collect gas towards the outer edge of the Milky Way. The results reveal how the Milky Way's black hole takes in and rejects matter.
This image shows a region near the center of the Milky Way galaxy in X-rays and radio waves. At the bottom of the image, near the center, there are knots of shiny, tangled material that resemble paint splatters. This is the brightest region in the image and contains the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy known as Sagittarius A*. The bottom third of the image looks like an angry firestorm. Red and orange stripes were scattered in all directions, as if the embers of a fire had crackled and shot into the air all at once. A flame-like structure is licking from the right side towards the center. Most of the image is injected with a wispy blue cloud indicating his X-rays detected by Chandra. In some places, wispy blue clouds appear to form balls of blue-green light, known as dust rings. They are caused by X-rays from a bright X-ray source reflecting off the dust around them. These dust rings resemble underwater lights glowing in a cloudy pool at night. Rising from Sagittarius A* in the center of the image is a pillar of blue light called a chimney. This chimney of hot gas is surrounded by a red cloud filled with stars, appearing as a small red speck. Near the top of the blue pillar is a light blue stripe surrounded by an illustrated gray box. This line is called the chimney exhaust. Immediately to the left is another illustrated box showing a close-up image of the chimney vent that Chandra observed.Image credits: NASA / CXC / Chicago Space / Mackey other. / NRF / SARAO / MeerKAT / SAO / N. Walk.
The chimney begins at the center of the Milky Way and stands perpendicular to the galaxy's spiral disk.
Astronomers previously identified the chimney using X-ray data from NASA's Chandra mission and ESA's XMM Newton mission.
The radio emissions detected by the MeerKAT radio telescope show the influence of the magnetic field surrounding the gas in the chimney.
The latest Chandra data reveals several X-ray ridges nearly perpendicular to the galactic plane.
Astronomers believe these are cylinder-shaped tunnel walls that help collect hot gas as it moves upwards along the chimney and away from the center of the galaxy. .
The newly discovered vent is located near the top of a chimney about 700 light-years from the center of the galaxy.
“We suspected that the magnetic field was acting as a chimney wall, allowing hot gases to rise through it like smoke,” said Dr. Scott McKee, an astronomer at the University of Chicago.
“I just discovered an exhaust near the top of the chimney.”
Astronomers believe the vent formed when hot gas rising through the chimney collided with cooler gas in its path.
The brightness of the exhaust wall in X-rays is caused by the shock wave created by this collision, similar to the sonic boom from a supersonic airplane.
The left side of the exhaust port is thought to be particularly bright because the upwardly flowing gas hits the tunnel wall at a more direct angle and with more force than other areas.
The researchers believe that the hot gas originates from a series of events in which material falls into Sagittarius A*, then erupts from the black hole, sending gas upward along the chimney and out the exhaust vent. I think it is most likely that it did.
However, it is not known exactly how often black holes are fed.
Previous studies have shown that dramatic X-ray flares occur every few hundred years at or near the central black hole, so that these flares send hot gases upward through the exhaust vent. may play an important role in pushing up.
Astronomers also estimate that Sagittarius A* tears apart and swallows a star approximately every 20,000 years.
Such an event would lead to a powerful and explosive release of energy, much of which would rise through the chimney vent.
Dr Mark Morris, an astronomer at the institute, said: 'We don't know whether this energy and heat is caused by a large amount of material being thrown into Sagittarius A* at once. It's like being thrown into it.” University of California, Los Angeles.
“Alternatively, it could result from multiple small loads being fed into the black hole, similar to kindlings thrown in periodically.”
Particles and energy within the vents provide clues about the origins of two mysterious and much larger structures near the center of the Milky Way. Fermi bubbles observed in gamma-rays by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and eROSITA bubbles detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. ESA's eROSITA X-ray telescope.
These are both pairs of structures that extend thousands of light-years away from the center of our galaxy.
These provide important information about past explosive activity near the center of the galaxy.
Both the Fermi and eROSITA bubbles are aligned along the direction of the chimney and a second X-ray chimney that starts at the center of the galaxy and points in the opposite direction.
The funnel effect of the exhaust near the top of the chimney keeps the hot gases concentrated as they move upwards, which can promote the formation of a bubble agglomerate structure.
“The origin of the Fermi and eROSITA bubbles is one of the greatest mysteries facing the study of high-energy radiation from the Milky Way,” said Dr. Gabriele Ponti, an astronomer at Italy's National Institute of Astrophysics.
“We discovered small structures that may play a major role in the creation of these giant bubbles.”
a paper Regarding the survey results, astrophysical journal.
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Scott C. McKee other. 2024. X-rays from the central “exhaust” of the chimney at the center of the galaxy. APJL 966, L32; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad3248
Source: www.sci.news
