A team of scientists from the Yale University has discovered what appears to be the trace of a runaway supermassive black hole. That is, just as comets leave their own trail, in this case a black hole that shot out of its galaxy would have left a trail of new stars behind it.
They have been able to reach this conclusion thanks to the images captured by the Space Telescope hubble and subsequent measurements from various instruments located at the Keck Observatory, in Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
The study authors want to confirm the data to be sure. And it is that, if they confirm what they already suspect, it would be the first time that evidence of a Runaway supermassive black hole. In addition, they have an interesting theory about how he was able to escape from the center of his galaxy with aid of two other black holes.
The star trail behind a black hole
The images that have led to this finding were captured for the first time by Hubble. Thanks to him, a curious thin line, formed by young stars. During the last 50 years, has been suspected that supermassive black holes could lose control and escape their galaxy, but there was no evidence to prove it.
That’s why, was the first suspicion of the scientists who detected that line Captured by Hubble. To see it better, they resorted to the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) and the Near Infrared Echellette Spectrograph (NIRES) at Keck Observatory. This allowed them to take closer images and further corroborate their suspicions.
It was clearly seen that the line, from 200,000 light years long, was made up of young stars and at its end was a glowing knot of ionized gas. The last thing that calls attention is that in the galaxy from which that line is born there is no black hole in its center. At least, not one that can be easily detected by the emission of jets of energy in the form of X-rays. Generally, all galaxies They have a black hole at their center. that can be detected in this way, because it is engulfing the matter around it. For this reason, his hypothesis is that the one who was there one day was shot.
During its journey, it left behind gas that, when cooling down, favored the formation of new stars. All of these stars were at least half as bright as the rest of the galaxy, indicating their youth.
How did it get shot?
These scientists not only have to confirm that they are dealing with a runaway supermassive black hole. They must also discern how He bolted. Although they already have a hypothesis.
It could be that two galaxies, each with its supermassive black hole in the middle, are attracted to each other. This would cause black holes to form a binary system in which one would pull the other in an endless fight. A fight that could be joined by a third black hole. At that point, you would create a unstable situation which would cause two of the black holes to torpedo the third, as if it were a slingshot. It would shoot out of its galaxy, leaving behind a trail of gas and new stars.
It would be the confirmation of what has always been assumed. But it will be necessary to continue studying to have a greater certainty. Of course, black holes never cease to amaze us. This is just a small sample of what remains to be seen about them.