Spinning-black-holes survey
New Chandra data reveal rapidy whirling black holes.
Provided by the Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Published:
January 15, 2008 This illustration shows a close-up view of a supermassive black hole in a galaxy's center.
Photo by NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
Results from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, combined with new theoretical calculations, provide one of the best pieces of evidence yet that many supermassive black holes are spinning extremely rapidly.
The Chandra images show pairs of huge bubbles, or cavities, in the hot gaseous atmospheres of the galaxies, created in each case by jets produced by a central supermassive black hole. Studying these cavities allows the power output of the jets to be calculated.
The Chandra images were also used to estimate how much fuel is available for each supermassive black hole, using a simple model for the way matter falls towards such an object. |
 This artist's impression shows gas within a "sphere of influence" falling straight inwards towards a black hole before joining a rapidly spinning disk of matter near the center.
Photo by NASA/CXC/M.Weiss |