Like a monstrous cosmic spider, a distant supermassive black hole is spinning a jet of plasma right into a twisted rope and blasting it out at near-light speed.
Astronomers witnessed this spectacular sight with a network of radio telescopes, including the RadioAstron space telescope, which can be combined to form an Earth-sized antenna. Specifically, this network was trained to watch the guts of a distant blazar named 3C 279.
These observations comprise probably the most detailed look scientists have ever had of an astrophysical jet emerging from a supermassive black hole, revealing a posh, twisted pattern near the jet’s source. This latest picture could challenge currently accepted theories that, for 40 years, have been used to clarify how these jets are created and the way they evolve over time.
“Because of RadioAstron and a network of twenty-three radio telescopes distributed across the Earth, we’ve got obtained the highest-resolution image of the inside of a blazar to this point, allowing us to watch the interior structure of the jet in such detail for the primary time,” Antonio Fuentes, team leader and a researcher on the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC), said in an announcement.
Related: Weirdly wobbly jets could also be evidence of elusive supermassive black hole pairings
An area spider’s 570-light-year-long web
Blazars, comparable to 3C 279, are the intense hearts of galaxies that emit powerful light as the results of hosting a feeding supermassive black hole. Here’s what which means.
Actively feeding black holes within the centers of galaxies constantly churn the matter they feast on, and this material is situated in the shape of flattened plates of gas and mud across the voids. Those plates are called “accretion disks.” Altogether, such scenarios are collectively often called energetic galactic nuclei. Energetic galactic nuclei are sometimes so vibrant they outshine the combined light of each star within the galaxies surrounding them.
But around 10% of energetic galactic nuclei blast out astrophysical jets in the course of the whole feeding process. These are often called quasars — and when those quasars have jets aimed directly at Earth, they’re called blazars.
The brand new observations of 3C 279 reveal unprecedented details of the plasma jet and the supermassive black hole at the guts of this blazar. “That is the primary time we’ve got seen such filaments so near the jet’s origin, and so they tell us more about how the black hole shapes the plasma,” Eduardo Ros, one other member of the team and European scheduler of the Global mm-VLBI Array, said within the statement. “This shows how different telescopes can reveal different features of the identical object.”
Specifically, the team found the jet to be composed of a minimum of two twisted filaments of plasma that stretch over 570 light-years from their source. The observations also showed the plasma jets are usually not straight and uniform; they exhibit twists and turns that arise in consequence of the central black hole’s influence.
The twists, or helical filaments, are the results of instabilities within the plasma jet, which is a component of what implies prior theories of how these jets evolve may have to be revised. This research could also revise our understanding of the role magnetic fields play within the initial formation of near-light speed jets from energetic galactic nuclei.
“One particularly intriguing aspect arising from our results is that they suggest the presence of a helical magnetic field that confines the jet,” Guang-Yao Zhao, one in all the team’s members and a scientist on the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, said within the statement. “Due to this fact, it might be the magnetic field, which rotates clockwise across the jet in 3C 279, that directs and guides the jet’s plasma moving at a speed of 0.997 times the speed of sunshine.”
The research demonstrates there may be quite a bit left to find out about blazars and their jets, and that there is a need to construct more accurate models of the method at mess around feeding supermassive black holes. It also emphasizes the importance of improved radio telescopes and development of techniques to image distant cosmic objects in greater detail.
“We’re entering a wholly novel terrain wherein these filaments may be actually connected to probably the most intricate processes within the immediate vicinity of the black hole producing the jet,” Andrei Lobanov, one in all the team’s members and a scientists on the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, said within the statement.
The team’s research was published on Thursday, Oct. 26, within the journal Nature Astronomy.