Scientists caught a very strange radio signal from a black hole

(ORDO NEWS) — Astronomers have discovered for the first time very fast mysterious changes in the jet of plasma that escapes from a small black hole. These changes occur within a fraction of a second and were detected using a radio signal picked up by the FAST radio telescope located in China.

This is reported by FOCUS with reference to SPACE.

Astronomers observed the microquasar GRS 1915+105 and as a result discovered something unusual.

Microquasars are miniature copies of quasars, the brightest objects in the universe, and are created by supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies as they absorb matter. But all the matter disappears forever inside the black hole, part of it still flies out in the form of a jet of plasma, which has a very high energy. 

The same thing happens in microquasars, but on a smaller scale.

The microquasar GRS 1915+105 consists of a stellar-mass black hole that emerged after the death of a massive star that exploded as a supernova, and an ordinary star orbiting the black hole. This object is located at a distance of 28 thousand light years from us.

A black hole constantly takes matter from its companion, and part of this matter escapes into space in the form of a jet of plasma. Scientists have discovered for the first time changes in the energy of the jet, which occur very quickly. 

Such changes, called quasi-periodic oscillations, have never before been observed in the radio waves of such black holes. Such a change in a black hole jet is the first evidence of changes in such plasma jets, but what exactly causes these changes remains a mystery.

Thanks to the received radio signal, astronomers found out that energy drops in the jet occur every 0.2 seconds. 

One of the assumptions that explains this strange phenomenon is that changes in the jet may be related to the fact that the rotation of the black hole does not coincide with the rotation of its accretion disk. This disk collects all the matter that orbits the black hole before disappearing inside it forever.

Scientists believe that this causes the jet to oscillate, and it becomes similar to a kind of cosmic jet. The jet constantly changes its direction of motion, and its energy drops. But after a fraction of a second, it returns to its normal state. And then everything happens again.

At the same time, there may be other explanations, so scientists will continue to observe this microquasar and other similar objects with a radio telescope. These observations, scientists believe, will help explain these mysterious radio signals.

—

Online:

Contact us: [email protected]

Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.