Irregular black holes: jets can change direction and threaten star formation

A group of researchers discovered a new feature while observing a strange type of black hole, according to a new study published in the scientific journal The Astrophysical Journal. Black holes are likened to the ‘Death Star’ battleship in the Star Wars series; In the movies, the gun emits explosive energy.

Observed holes is of the supermassive type and presents a mysterious phenomenoncan change direction in a significantly short time scale.

The change in direction is caused by jets of plasma particles emanating from this supermassive region of space. As the team explains, energy beams from plasma jets can play a crucial role in the star formation process, so understanding how this feature works is crucial.

To learn a little more about the process, researchers analyzed Data collected from 16 galaxies with a center containing black holes. The analyzes were performed using information obtained by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s (NRAO) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA).

“We found that about a third of the rays now point in completely different directions than before. These black holes [do tipo] ‘Death Stars’ are rotating and pointing at new targets, like the fictional space station in Star Wars,” astrophysicist Francesco Ubertosi from the University of Bologna (Italy) said in an official statement about the study.

What is the relationship between black holes and plasma jets?

By examining the radio waves that indicate the direction of the jets, scientists were able to compare them with data obtained from gaps in the hot gas around black holes; The second feature provides information about the ancient aspects of the jets.

The result shows that 30% to 38% of the jets studied changed direction by 45 degrees or more. This may have lasted up to 10 million years, with the shortest periods of time being at least a million years. In this reaction, HEThe jets pump energy into the gas around the galaxy, but if they change direction they can stop star formation.

“Given that these black holes are probably more than 10 billion years old, we think a major change of direction would be rapid, within a few million years. Changing the direction of the giant black hole’s beams in about a million years would be like changing the direction of a new battleship in a few minutes,” he said. Gerrit Schellenberger, astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

Did you like the content? Read more astronomical curiosities at TecMundo. If you wish, take the opportunity to understand how many stellar black holes there are in the Milky Way. To the next one!