Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories | 2015 Feb 19
By looking at the speed of ambient gas spewing out from a well-known quasar, astronomers are gaining insight into how black holes and their host galaxies might have evolved at the same time.
Using the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (link is external) (NuSTAR), researchers were able to use the X-ray spectra of an extremely luminous black hole (quasar PDS 456) to detect a nearly spherical stream of highly ionized gas streaming out of it.
The discovery allowed astronomers to measure, for the first time, the strength of ultra-fast black hole winds and show that they are mighty enough to affect the fate of their host galaxies.
The evolution of galaxies is connected to the growth of supermassive black holes in their centers. During the quasar phase, a huge luminosity is released as matter falls onto the black hole, and radiation-driven winds can transfer most of this energy back to the host galaxy. ...
NASA, ESA Telescopes Give Shape to Furious Black Hole Winds
NASA | JPL-Caltech | NuSTAR | 2015 Feb 19
Widespread wind from black hole can shape star formation
ESA Science & Technology | XMM-Newton | 2015 Feb 19
Widespread Winds and Feedback from Supermassive Black Holes
Keele University | 2015 Feb 20
Black hole feedback in the luminous quasar PDS 456 - Emanuele Nardini et al
- Science 347(6224) 860 (20 Feb 2015) DOI: 10.1126/science.1259202