Credit X-ray: NASA/CXC/MTA-Eötvös University/N. Werner et al.;
Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
A new study using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory indicates that black holes have squelched star formation in small, yet massive galaxies known as "red nuggets", as reported in our latest press release.
The results suggest some red nugget galaxies may have used some of the
untapped stellar fuel to grow their central supermassive black holes to
unusually massive proportions.
Red nuggets are relics of the first massive galaxies that formed within only one billion years after the Big Bang.
While most red nuggets merged with other galaxies over billions of
years, a small number remained solitary. These relatively pristine red
nuggets allow astronomers to study how the galaxies — and the
supermassive black hole at their centers — act over billions of years of
isolation.
In the latest research, astronomers used Chandra to study the hot gas
in two of these isolated red nuggets, Mrk 1216, and PGC 032673. (The
Chandra data, colored red, of Mrk 1216 is shown in the inset.) These two
galaxies are located only 295 million and 344 million light years
from Earth respectively, rather than billions of light years for the
first known red nuggets, allowing for a more detailed look. The gas in
the galaxy is heated to such high temperatures that it emits brightly in
X-ray light, which Chandra detects. This hot gas contains the imprint
of activity generated by the supermassive black holes in each of the two
galaxies.
An artist's illustration
(main panel) shows how material falling towards black holes can be
redirected outward at high speeds due to intense gravitational and
magnetic fields. These high-speed jets can tamp down the formation of
stars. This happens because the blasts from the vicinity of the black
hole provide a powerful source of heat, preventing the galaxy's hot
interstellar gas from cooling enough to allow large numbers of stars to
form.
A paper describing these results in the July 1st, 2018 issue of the
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society journal and is available online.
The authors of the paper are Norbert Werner (MTA-Eötvös University
Lendület Hot Universe and Astrophysics Research Group in Budapest,
Hungary), Kiran Lakhchaura (MTA-Eötvös University), Rebecca Canning
(Stanford University), Massimo Gaspari (Princeton University), and
Aurora Simeonescu (ISAS/JAXA). NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, controls Chandra's science and
flight operations.
Fast Facts for Mrk 1216:
Scale: About 50 arcsec across (71 million light years)
Category: Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies, Black Holes
Coordinates (J2000): RA 8h 26m 19.8s | Dec -06° 46´ 23.0"
Constellation: Hydra
Observation Date: June 12, 2015
Observation Time: 3 hours 35 minutes
Obs. ID: 17061
Instrument: ACIS
References: N. Werner et al.,2018,MNRAS,477,3886. arXiv:1711.09983
Color Code: Intensity: X-ray (Red)
Distance Estimate: About 295 million light years (z=0.021328)
Source: NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory
