GSFC: RXTE Homes in on a Black Hole's Jets

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GSFC: RXTE Homes in on a Black Hole's Jets

Post by bystander » Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:08 pm

RXTE Homes in on a Black Hole's Jets
NASA GSFC RXTE - 01 July 2010
For decades, X-ray astronomers have studied the complex behavior of binary systems pairing a normal star with a black hole. In these systems, gas from the normal star streams toward the black hole and forms a disk around it. Friction within the disk heats the gas to millions of degrees -- hot enough to produce X-rays. At the disk's inner edge, near the black hole, strong magnetic fields eject some of the gas into dual, oppositely directed jets that blast outward at about half the speed of light.

That's the big picture, but the details have been elusive. For example, do most of the X-rays arise from the jets? The disk? Or from a high-energy region on the threshold of the black hole?

Now, astronomers using NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite, together with optical, infrared and radio data, find that, at times, most of the X-rays come from the jets.
XTE J1550-564: Chandra Tracks Evolution of X-Ray Jets
From Cradle To Grave: Chandra Discovers The History Of Black Hole X-Ray Jets

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