Black Holes | The Math Blaster Blog

Medium-sized Black Holes

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Math Blaster

Did you and your Blaster know that black holes come in two extremes – the petite ones with a mass that is only 10 times that of our sun, and monstrous ones that have a mass equivalent to 10 billion suns? However, NASA recently found some interesting data that shows that we may found a new medium-sized category of black holes.

Photo by Hubble Heritage

Although scientists is yet to determine what caused the formation of intermediate-sized black holes, with theories surrounding the notion of clustering and merging of stars, evidence shows that the proposed medium-sized black holes came from objects called ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs), where the black hole feeds off a normal star. The feeding process is similar to that of supermassive black holes, but less messy. While supermassive black holes are located at the cores of galaxies, ULXs are scattered throughout the galaxies.

Astronomers found that a ULX located 13 million light-years away has a mass that is about 100 times of our sun, which puts it right at the border between small and medium black holes. However, some scientists made the conclusion that the evidence showing the ultraluminous quality of these objects are caused by the high rate of material absorption, not from the size. Therefore, the existence of medium-sized black holes has yet to be determined.

Filed under: Current Events, Newsletter, Parents and Kids, Science Facts, What's New | Tagged: Black Holes, Math Blaster, NASA, newsletter, space, Space News, ULXs | Leave a comment »

Astronomers May Have Found New Way to Map Galaxy Centers

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Math Blaster

When a star passes too close to the black hole found in the center of a galaxy, the gravitational force is so strong that it shreds the star apart. As a result, a flare-up is created in the center of the galaxy which fades over a few months. These flare-ups are called quasars. A team from the University of Edinburgh led by Professor Andy Lawrence may have discovered a new way to map quasars. In a large scale survey using the PanSTARRS telescope on Hawaii, Professor Lawrence and his team studied millions of galaxies. While they did find flare-ups, their behavior was different from their initial “star-shredding” predictions.

Unlike normal quasars that fade over a couple months, the ones found by Lawrence and his team faded over a period of years. In addition to this finding, the quasars appeared to be at the wrong distance. Lawrence’s survey identified the quasars to be roughly 10 billion light years away while the galaxies they appeared to be in were only 3 billion light years away. Should the estimated distances of these quasars and galaxies be correct, then Lawrence and his team are actually viewing quasars through a foreground galaxy.

Normally this occurrence has little effect on the brightness of a quasar, but if a single star in the foreground galaxy passes directly in front of the quasar, the resulting gravitational focusing of the light makes the quasar temporarily brighter. This phenomenon, called “microlensing,” has been known for low-level flickering, but this is the first time it has been suggested for such intense effects.

Lawrence believes that this finding could help us map out the internal structure of quasars in a way that is otherwise impossible since quasars are so small. As astronomers discover more developments on this phenomenon, it will dramatically reshape the way we understand the galaxy.

Filed under: Current Events, Newsletter, Science Facts | Tagged: Black Holes, Galaxies, Microlensing, Outer Space, Quasars, stars | 3 Comments »

NASA Discovers Black Hole Cluster in Neighboring Galaxy

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Math Blaster

In our neighboring sister galaxy of Andromeda, NASA’s Chandra X-ray observatory has identified 26 black hole candidates, the largest number to date in a galaxy outside our own. Using over 150 images spanning more than 13 years, Chandra has been able to observe this large cluster of black holes that scientists believe to be just the tip of the iceberg. The reason why this finding is so exciting to researchers is that black holes generally will not have close companions and will be invisible to detection.

The black holes found by Chandra belong to the stellar mass category, meaning they formed from the deaths of extremely large stars and usually have masses 5 to 10 times that of our sun. As material is pulled from nearby stars and heated up to create radiation before being engulfed by the black hole, scientists are able to use this radiation to detect these otherwise invisible objects. Researchers engaged in a couple steps to identify these clusters as a stellar mass system in the Andromeda galaxy.

First, utilizing a technique focusing on the brightness and variability of X-ray sources in Chandra’s data, astronomers were able to classify the black holes as a stellar mass system in the Andromeda galaxy as opposed to supermassive black holes elsewhere. Second, analyzing the X-ray sources, researchers noted two important characteristics: they were brighter than a certain high level of X-rays and possessed a distinct color. Chandra’s advanced X-ray technology played a vital role in locating the black holes that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

One critical aspect to the black hole cluster’s research was observing over 13 years of images from Chandra. This long exposure allowed astronomers to test whether the objects were black holes or neutron stars, which possess similar characteristics. Using data provided by Chandra, scientists had previously found 9 black holes and with this new cluster the total has increased to 35.

Researchers are extremely excited about this discovery that they have spent years searching for. While black holes remain a mysterious phenomena, the findings made by the Chandra X-ray observatory may play a key role in unraveling more secrets about black holes and the galaxies they reside in.

Filed under: Current Events, Newsletter, Science Facts | Tagged: Andromeda Galaxy, Black Holes, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, NASA, X-Rays | Leave a comment »

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