News: Space news distributed around Yorkshire June 01, 2016 12:24:23 PM
Using data from NASA’s Great Observatories, astronomers have found the best evidence yet for cosmic seeds in the early universe that should grow into supermassive black holes.
Researchers combined data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope to identify these possible black hole seeds. They discuss their findings in a paper that will appear in an upcoming issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
“Our discovery, if confirmed, explains how these monster black holes were born,” said Fabio Pacucci of Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS) in Pisa, Italy, who led the study. “We found evidence that supermassive black hole seeds can form directly from the collapse of a giant gas cloud, skipping any intermediate steps.”
Scientists believe a supermassive black hole lies in the center of nearly all large galaxies, including our own Milky Way. They have found that some of these supermassive black holes, which contain millions or even billions of times the mass of the sun, formed less than a billion years after the start of the universe in the Big Bang.
One theory suggests black hole seeds were built up by pulling in gas from their surroundings and by mergers of smaller black holes, a process that should take much longer than found for these quickly forming black holes.
These new findings suggest instead that some of the first black holes formed directly when a cloud of gas collapsed, bypassing any other intermediate phases, such as the formation and subsequent destruction of a massive star.
“There is a lot of controversy over which path these black holes take,” said co-author Andrea Ferrara, also of SNS. “Our work suggests we are narrowing in on an answer, where the black holes start big and grow at the normal rate, rather than starting small and growing at a very fast rate.”
The researchers used computer models of black hole seeds combined with a new method to select candidates for these objects from long-exposure images from Chandra, Hubble, and Spitzer.
The team found two strong candidates for black hole seeds. Both of these matched the theoretical profile in the infrared data, including being very red objects, and also emit X-rays detected with Chandra. Estimates of their distance suggest they may have been formed when the universe was less than a billion years old.
“Black hole seeds are extremely hard to find and confirming their detection is very difficult,” said Andrea Grazian, a co-author from the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy. “However, we think our research has uncovered the two best candidates to date.”
The team plans to obtain further observations in X-rays and the infrared to check whether these objects have more of the properties expected for black hole seeds. Upcoming observatories, such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and the European Extremely Large Telescope will aid in future studies by detecting the light from more distant and smaller black holes. Scientists currently are building the theoretical framework needed to interpret the upcoming data, with the aim of finding the first black holes in the universe.
“As scientists, we cannot say at this point that our model is ‘the one’,” said Pacucci. “What we really believe is that our model is able to reproduce the observations without requiring unreasonable assumptions.”
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program while the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra’s science and flight operations.
The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission, whose science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado.
For more on NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/chandra
For more on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/hubble
For more on NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer
- wathupondearne Latest news in Yorkshire: Published March 18, 2019 11:55:39 AM Today (Monday 18 March) South Yorkshire Police joins police forces and other agencies around the UK to mark National Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Day. CSE Awareness Day is an opportunity to remind everyone of the warning signs of sexual exploitation and abuse among children, as well as encouraging victims and survivors of abuse to come forward and report what happened. Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Bates, force lead for child abuse, said: “National CSE Awareness Day is another opportunity for police forces, agencies across the country and our local communities to come together and show their support for this vitally important campaign. “We’ve had a range of activities happening across South Yorkshire to support the national campaign, including presentations at schools and an open day with Barnardo’s in Rotherham.” Follow the hashtag
- Council seeks to change rules on sex establishments
- College students run school sports day
- Witnesses to Balby assault urged to come forward
- Whispers of the Coal Town: A Journey Through Time in Wath-upon-Dearne
- Rare Photo Hooton Roberts
- Prison for sneak-in burglar from Barnsley
- Free childcare for mums to book cervical screening tests
- UPDATE – Martin Shaw back behind bars
- Adrian Pogmore sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment
- Four years for Nazi teen who downloaded terror handbook
- Did NASA ever go to the moon?
- Yorkshire’s most dangerous pets
- Apprentice Katie wins national award
- Two businesses broken into in Wath, Rotherham
- College and youth choir join together in harmony
- Stem Cells Successfully Injected into Patient’s Brain
- Launch of Rotherham Heroes community hub and volunteer programme
- Prison for man who robbed three elderly women
- Henry Boot Construction wins prestigious national award for work on Barnsley Market
- Tutor makes a bald move
- Drugs, cash and vehicles seized in Rotherham
- Police cars set on fire in Goldthorpe arson attack
- Diversity through Barnsley
- New Year, New Healthier You
- Murder of 31-year-old man in Sheffield
- Attempted burglary of Rotherham pensioner – can you help?
- More Barnsley families on their way to getting five a day
- Denaby Crossing
- CCTV released in connection to Sheffield sex assault
- Work begins on Gulliver’s theme park
- Fifth of care homes ‘inadequate’ or ‘need improvement’
- Groom Brothers Mexborough
- RIVERS DON AND DEARNE STILL RISING
- Barnsley attacker jailed for 2 years
- Two jailed for hate crimes in Rotherham
- Cliff Richard wins BBC privacy case at High Court
- Man charged with attempted grooming of 12 year old
- Independent investigation reports by RMBC
- College students present Seussical the Musical