|
A&A press release Released on April 6th, 2006
Based on the article “X-ray detection of the proto supermassive binary black hole at the centre of Abell 400”, by Hudson et al. (To be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. )
This press release is issued as a collaboration with the University of Bonn, the University of Virginia, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory Center , and Astronomy & Astrophysics.
An international team of astronomers led by D. Hudson from the
University of Bonn has detected a proto supermassive binary black hole
in images of NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory. They found that these
two black holes are gravitationally bound and orbit each other. Their
results will be published in an upcoming issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics.
An international team of astrophysicists, led by D. Hudson from the
University of Bonn and including the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and
the University of Virginia, presents their X-ray detection of a proto
supermassive binary black hole. Their results will be published in an
upcoming issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics. The image of
this proto binary black hole was obtained with NASA's Chandra X-ray
Observatory. The two black holes have already been seen in radio
images. The new X-ray images provide unique evidence that these two
black holes are in the process of forming a binary system; that is,
they are gravitationally bound and orbit each other.
The two black holes are located in the nearby galaxy cluster Abell 400. With high-resolution Chandra data, the team was able to spatially resolve the two supermassive black holes (separated by 15") at the centre of the cluster. Each black hole is located at the centre of its respective host galaxy and the host galaxies appear to be merging. It is not, however, just the two host galaxies that are colliding - the whole cluster in which they live is merging into another neighbouring galaxy cluster. Using these new data, the team show that the two black holes are moving through the intracluster medium at the supersonic speed of about 1200 km/s. The wind from such a motion would cause the radio plasma emitted from these two black holes to bend backwards. Although this bending had been observed previously, the cause of it was still being debated. Since the bending of the jets due to this motion is in the same direction, it suggests that the two black holes are travelling along the same path within the cluster and are therefore gravitationally bound. These two black holes became gravitationally bound when their host galaxies collided. In several million years, the two black holes will probably coalesce causing a burst of gravitational waves, as predicted by Einstein's theory of relativity. This event will produce one of the brightest sources of gravitational radiation in the Universe. Although we will not be around to see this particular one, the observations provide additional evidence that such bound systems exist and are currently merging. The gravitational waves produced by these mergers are believed to be the biggest source of gravitational waves to be detected by the future Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA).
The team includes D.S. Hudson (AIfA,Germany), T.H. Reiprich
(AIfA,Germany), T.E. Clarke (NRL & Interferometrics Inc.,USA), and
C.L. Sarazin (UVa,USA).
X-ray detection of the proto supermassive binary black hole at the centre of Abell 400
Contact persons:
|
||
Home  Press releases A&A press release: Proto supermassive binary black hole detected in X-rays (6 April 2006)
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
