The universe is a mystery without limit, which always includes a new surprise for humans. This is one of them: astronomers have recently discovered the largest black holes and the brightest ever known so far.
An artist's illustration of a monster supermassive black hole at the heart of a quasar in the distant universe. Scientists say the newfound black hole SDSS J010013.02+280225.8 is the largest and brightest ever found. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1BE93fy) |
Meanwhile, the science of human beings estimated the universe was 13.8 billion years old. The researchers say, is still a mystery why a black hole could grow to be as big as it was, in a relatively short time after the 'dawn' appearance of the universe. Black holes are believed to be in the middle or center of most (if not to say all) galaxies.
Previously, the biggest black holes ever found to have 10 billion times the mass of the sun. For comparison, the black hole in the center of the Milky Way (called Sagittarius A) estimated 'only' has a mass of 4 million to 5 million times the sun.
The black hole is a concentration of mass large enough to produce a very large gravitational force. In fact, even light can not escape from the strength of its tremendous power.
However, unlike the name suggests, the black hole is an object which is often light. Therefore, it is surrounded by a feature known as the accretion disks which are formed from gas and hot dust are and emit light like swirling into a black hole.
Astronomers suspect, quasars (the brightest object in the universe) contains a supermassive black hole that releases light in very exceptional to imagine when they turn up and rip the stars. Astronomers recently discovered 40 quasars. Which each have 1 black hole with a size of about 1 billion times the mass of the sun.
The newfound quasar SDSS J0100+2802 has the most massive black hole and the highest luminosity among all known distant quasars, as shown in this comparison chart of the black hole's mass and brightness. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1DYVWpI) |
So, what are the benefits of these findings?
Previously it was believed, that the black holes thought to hold the secrets of the universe to key travel through time? It also has a horror reputation: touted as the 'doomsday trigger'.
"The findings are very surprising because presenting a serious challenge to the theory of the growth of black holes in the early days of the universe," said the study author Xue-Bing Wu, an astrophysicist from Peking University, Beijing, as was quoted of ScienceDaily on Thursday, February 26, 2015.
Accretion disc limit the speed of growth of modern black holes. First, when the gas and dust in the disk approaches the black hole, so the buildup will be slowing down another material being sucked into it. Later, when more material accumulates, it will heat up and emit radiation that makes the dust and gas went away from the black hole.
So far, scientists doesn't have a satisfactory theory to explain why supermassive objects can be formed in the early formation of the universe. "That takes a special way to grow a black hole quickly, or there must be a large seeds," said Wu.
Researchers underlined that the light of the newly discovered black holes could help provide clues about the dark corners of far cosmos. Like when the quasar light shining toward Earth, passing through the intergalactic gas that gave color.
In summarizing, how the intergalactic gas affects the spectrum of the quasar's light, scientists can deduce the elements that make up the gas. That knowledge, in turn, can provide insights into the process of star formation that started shortly after the Big Bang.
"The quasar is one of the brightest in the early universe. As a lighthouse, it will give us a chance to use it as a tool to study the structure of the dark cosmic, in the wilds of the universe," said Wu. As for detailed description of the invention described by scientists in the Nature scientific journal on February 26, 2015 edition. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | SPACE.COM | SCIENCEDAILY]
Note: This blog can be accessed via your smart phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment