New Delhi: Researchers have examined over two decades of data captured by NASA’s Chandra X-Ray observatory to better understand the polar jets from supermassive black holes. These polar jets are massive cosmic structures that can dwarf the host galaxies. Researchers have started examining black hole jets in various frequencies, including radio and X-rays to better understand the ongoing processes. The researchers reexamined observations of Centaurus A, at a distance of 13 million lightyears from the Earth. The team developed a knew computer algorithm that could track bright, lumpy features in the jets, known as knots, across the observation time.
One of these knots in fact, appeared to be moving faster than the speed of light because of its motion relative to Chandra, with the distance between the jet and Chandra shrinking nearly as fast as light can travel. The researchers were able to track knots that were more visible in X-ray or radio frequencies, that were moving at different speeds. Radio observations had previously indicated that the knots closest to the black hole moved at the highest speeds, but the new observations revealed that the knots in the middle moved the fastest in X-ray light. The proximity of the black hole provided a suitable object for validating and testing the methodology developed by the team.
Black Hole Jets beyond Centaurus A
A paper describing the findings has been published in The Astrophysical Journal. Lead author of the paper, David Bogensberger says, “A key to understanding what’s going on in the jet could be understanding how different wavelength bands trace different parts of the environment. Now we have that possibility. The jet in X-rays is different from the jet in radio waves. The X-ray data traces a unique picture that you can’t see in any other wavelength.” The researchers now intend to conduct similar studies on the jets from supermassive black holes lurking in the cores of other galaxies.
