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.

Gravitational Waves Give Insight To Growth of Supermassive Black Holes

CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope

Scientists are looking at gravitational waves to understand the growth of supermassive black holes.

Black holes are regions in space where gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light, can resist its pull. It is believed that every galaxy has a supermassive black hole (SMBH) in its center.

Gravitational waves can best be described as small waves or ripples that travel through the fabric of space-time. It is like putting a bowling bowl on a mattress and rolling it forward. The indentations surrounding the bowling ball as it rolls can be described as a gravitational wave.

Einstein theorized that similar to the mattress, the dimension of space-time warps and curves as planets and other objects of big masses move along it. These curvatures generate ripples (waves) in space-time that travel outward at the speed of light and diminishes in energy as it goes further out.

Although gravitational waves have not yet been directly discovered, there have been indirect observations of its existence using radio signals from a pulsar.

In this latest study, scientists believe that by studying the connection between the strength of a gravitational wave and how two colliding supermassive blackholes behave (their mass, distance between each other and how often it spirals and merge), it will help explain the growth of black holes.

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.