Link Discovered Between Supernova Explosion and Powerful Magnetic Field From Magnetar

La Silla and Paranal Observatories in Chile have found a connection between a very long-lasting burst of gamma rays and an unusually bright supernova explosion. Previous belief was that radioactive decay was the reason behind these kind of explosions. Latest findings show that this particular supernova explosion was triggered by decaying super-strong magnetic fields around a magnetar.

The discovery was aided by Gamma-Ray Burst Optical/Near-Infrared Detector (GROND) on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at La Silla and also with the X-shooter instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal. GROND is an imaging instrument to investigate Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows and other transients while the X-shooter is a three armed multi-wavelength, medium resolution spectrograph.

Magnetars are tiny neutron stars that spin hundreds of times per second and has a magnetic field much stronger than normal neutron stars (also known as radio pulsars). Magnetars are thought to develop magnetic field strengths that are 100 to 1000 times greater than those seen in pulsars. These objects are believed to be the strongest magnetised objects in the Universe.

This discovery marks the first time to link magnetars and supernovas.

Extremely Powerful Magnetic Field Detected At Edge of Supermassive Black Hole

A very powerful magnetic field has been detected at the edge of a supermassive black hole in the distant PKS 1830-211 galaxy.

The magnetic field is far more powerful than anything previously detected in the core of a galaxy.

Supermassive black hole are found at the center of almost all the galaxies and are a million times more massive than the Sun. These black holes accrete (come or bring together under the influence of gravitation) vast amounts of matter in the form of a disc. This matter is sucked in the black hole but some escape and are flung out into space at close to the speed of light as part of a jet of plasma.

This discovery can help astronomers understand the structure and formation of supermassive black holes and the the twin high-speed jets of plasma they frequently eject from their poles.

The artist's impression show accretion of matter forming a brilliant hot disk around the black hole. There are also often high-speed jets of material ejected at the black hole’s poles that can extend huge distances into space. Observations with ALMA have detected a very strong magnetic field close to the black hole at the base of the jets and this is probably involved in jet production and collimation.

Spiral Structure and Jets Streaming Out of Black Hole Studied by ALMA and NASA

This detailed view shows the central parts of the nearby active galaxy NGC 1433. The dim blue background image, showing the central dust lanes of this galaxy, comes from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The coloured structures near the centre are from recent ALMA observations that have revealed a spiral shape, as well as an unexpected outflow, for the first time.
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/NASA/ESA/F. Combes

Observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have helped astronomers gather data from jets streaming out from a black hole in the galaxy NGC 1433. The data also showed a spiral structure in the molecular gas close to the center of NGC 1433. The scientists have also captured data from another black hole jet in the remote active galaxy PKS 1830-211.

The black hole jets are believed to stop formation of stars and help regulate the growth of the central bulges of galaxies. In a process called feedback, the black hole accretes gas and grows more active, but feedback also produces jets that clear out gas from the surrounding regions which stops star formation.

Black holes are regions in outer space where the gravity is so strong that even light gets pulled into it. Black holes are formed from stars that have gone supernova and collapsed into itself.

Black holes vary in size with some having a mass twenty times more than the Sun. There are also Supermassive Black holes (SMBH) that are a million times more massive than the Sun. Each galaxy is believed to harbor a supermassive black hole in its center.

The closest SMBH to the Earth is 26,000 light years away at the center of the Milky Way. The Milky Way's supermassive black hole is estimated to have a mass of about four million Suns and was created when the Sagittarius A star collapsed after going supernova.

The study of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy and its environment is rated number one in the list of ESO's top ten astronomical discoveries.

Chandra X-ray Space Telescope Reveals Reason Supermassive Black Holes Consume Less Matter

Scientists using NASA's Chandra X-Ray space telescope have found the reason why supermassive black holes accrete (consume or pulling in matter) less cosmic gasses than it should.

A supermassive black hole (SMBH) is the largest type of black hole in the Universe. The mass of a SMBH can reach up to the millions and billions than that of the Sun.

Astronomers beoleive that the center of each galaxy hosts a SMBH. The Milky Way galaxy has a SMBH that has a mass four millin times more than the sun and is the closest supermassive black hole to the Earth at 26,000 light years away. This SMBH was created with the collapse of the Sagittarius A star.

Just recently the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT)is observed a gas cloud (G2) being ripped apart as it passes the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Supermassive Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way Rips Apart Giant Gas Cloud G2

The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) observed a gas cloud (named G2) being ripped apart by the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The VLT data confirm that G2 is now so stretched that the front part of it has passed the closest point and is travelling away from the black hole at more than 10 million km/h, whilst the tail is still falling towards it.
Credit: ESO/S. Gillessen/MPE/Marc Schartmann

The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT)is observing a gas cloud (G2) being ripped apart as it passes the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. A supermassive black hole is the largest type of black hole in the universe with its mass being millions or even billions times that of the Sun. Just recently, a new class of Galaxy-Black Hole System With a mass equal To 11 billion Suns was discovered.

It is believed that at each center of a galaxy lies a supermassive black hole. The Milky Way's supermassive black hole is estimated to have a mass of about four million times more than that of the Sun. It is the closest supermassive black hole to the Earth and was created with the collapse of the Sagittarius A star. The study of the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy and its environment is rated number one in the list of ESO's top ten astronomical discoveries.

G2 has been observed to be 25 billion kilometers from the black hole itself. Even at this distance, the pull of the black hole is still strong enough to rip apart the gas cloud. The gas at the head of G2 is now stretched over more than 160 billion kilometres around the closest point of the orbit to the black hole. With this observation, the scientists are studying how the gas cloud interacts with the ambient gas surrounding the black hole and so far, nothing has been found.

Black Hole Outflow From Galaxy NGC 3783 Surprises Observers

The VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer) of the European Southern Observatory has observed that dust around a black hole at the NGC 3783 galaxy forms a cool wind that streams out from the black hole. This observation have surprised scientists since dust surrounding black holes have been observed to reach 700 to 1000 degrees Celsius.

The dust can be found at the torus of the black hole. The torus, which resembles a three dimensional donut (as seen on the image on the left), surrounds the black hole and is believed to be the source of high energy objects called active galactic nuclei (AGN). The supermassive black hole pulls in material from the surrounding region but it seems that the resulting radiation and energy that this produces also blows it away.

The hotter dust was mapped using the AMBER VLTI instrument at near-infrared wavelengths and the newer observations reported here used the MIDI instrument at wavelengths between 8 and 13 microns in the mid-infrared.

Black holes are regions in space where gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape its pull. Black holes are formed from stars that have exploded into a supernova and collapses into itself.

Black holes vary in size with some being 20 times more massive that the sun. Supermassive Black holes can reach a mass more than a million times than that of the Sun. Each galaxy has a supermassive black hole in its center.

The VLTI used to observe the black hole is made up of a combination of four VLT Unit Telescopes and four moveable 1.8-metre VLT Auxiliary Telescopes. It combines the light from several of these telescopes to form one observation through a process called interferometry. This process does not actually produce images but the generated measurements can be used to increase the level of detail of resulting observations.

Rare Galaxy Class Identified - Green Bean Galaxy J2240

The Very Large Telescope of the ESO has detected and imaged a new class of galaxy that is glowing green. The green glow is not just limited to the core but is emitted throughout the whole of the galaxy. The identified galaxy, J2240, is classified as a Green Bean Galaxy.

Most galaxies has a giant black hole in the center. As the black hole sucks the surrounding matter in, radiation and energy is given off which makes the area glow. The Milky Way is believed to host a supermassive black hole in its core but the surrounding dust and gas may be blocking the light for Earth instruments to detect.

There are also a class of galaxies called Green Pea galaxies. They are characterized as very small luminous galaxies and has no relation to the newly classified Green Bean galaxies except for their size.

Green Bean Galaxies are entire galaxies that glow under the intense radiation from the region around its core where the central black hole lies.

New Class of Galaxy-Black Hole System With Black Hole Of Mass Equal To 11 Billion Suns Discovered

Astronomers discover a black hole a mass equal to 17 billion Suns in the middle of galaxy NGC 1277. The black hole is 11 times wider than the orbit of Neptune to the Sun. This may be the most massive black hole ever discovered and may be the first of a class of Galaxy-Black Hole systems.

A black hole is a region in space where gravity is so strong even light falls into it. Nothing escapes the pull of a black hole. These are formed when a star, in its dying days, explodes into a supernova and starts to collapse into itself.

What prevents a black hole from eating up everything around it is its event horizon. The Event Horizon is the edge or boundary surrounding the black hole which marks the area where escape from a black hole is impossible.

The size of a black hole may vary from some having a mass equivalent to 20 times that of the Sun to large ones reaching up to a Sun-mass of a million times. These are called supermassive black holes. Each galaxy has a super-massive black hole in its center.

Biggest Quasar Blast From A Super Massive Black Hole Discovered

Artist's impression of outflow of quasar SDSS J1106+1939

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have discovered a quasar with the most energetic outflow ever seen, at least five times more powerful than any that have been observed to date.

When a star goes supernova, it creates a pulsar. These are extremely dense neutron stars that are highly magnetized and rotate emitting a beam of electromagnetic radiation. Pulsar is short for "pulsating star". The Crab Nebula contains a pulsar that rotates at a rate of 30 times per second.

Compared to a pulsar, a quasar does not have a neutron star at its center. Instead of a neutron star, it has a black hole; a super-massive black hole that astronomers call 'monsters'.

Two Black Holes Discovered Inside Globular Star Cluster M22

Star clusters are a group of stars that are attracted to each other by their gravitational fields or are moving in the same direction. Star clusters were used to be called star clouds.

There are two kinds of star clusters, the open star cluster and the globular star cluster. Open star clusters are loosely clustered groups of young stars. The gravitational attraction between the stars may be weak or non existent.

Globular star clusters are made up of hundreds of thousands of very old stars that are gravitaionally bound. These stars are attracted to each other and form a very tight sphere. The stars within a globular star cluster orbit a galactic core and the amount of stars within get denser going toward the center.

There are about 160 known globular clusters in the Milky Way. The Andromeda galaxy has 500 while Galaxy M87 has 13,0000. The first discovered globular star cluster was M22 in the constellation Sagittarius by Abraham Ihle in 1665.

The image above is an artist's conception of two black holes in globular cluster. Image credit goes to Benjamin de Bivort; Strader, et al.; NRAO/AUI/NSF.

Surprising black-hole discovery changes picture of globular star clusters

An unexpected discovery by astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is forcing scientists to rethink their understanding of the environment in globular star clusters, tight-knit collections containing hundreds of thousands of stars.

The astronomers used the VLA to study a globular cluster called Messier 22 (M22), a group of stars more than 10,000 light-years from Earth. They hoped to find evidence for a rare type of black hole in the cluster's center. They wanted to find what scientists call an intermediate-mass black hole, more massive than those a few or more times the Sun's mass, but smaller than the supermassive black holes found at the cores of galaxies.