China News Service, Beijing, June 12 (Reporter Sun Zifa) The National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences released news on the 12th that astronomers first discovered in 2007 the image of the heartbeat of a black hole-a quasi-periodic X-ray cycle from a supermassive black hole Shock signal. After a lapse of more than ten years, when the astronomer once again had the opportunity to observe the black hole, he found that the "heartbeat of the black hole" signal is still continuing and stronger.
This important astronomical research work was led by Researcher Jin Chichuan from the High Energy Astrophysics Group of the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Collaborators include Professor Chris Done and Professor Martin Ward of Durham University, research papers Recently published in the "Royal Astronomical Society Monthly".
According to the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this special "heartbeat" black hole is a supermassive black hole 600 million light-years away from the Earth and 2 million times the mass of the sun. Its number is RE J1034+396. In 2007, scientists used the European Space Agency's XMM- Newton’s satellite, for the first time, found that the black hole’s X-ray radiation had a periodic oscillation signal of about 1 hour. After 2011, because the black hole's line of sight was too close to the sun, the monitoring of its "heartbeat" signal ceased.
Until 2018, scientists once again had the opportunity to observe this black hole. The research team led by Jin Chichuan applied to ESA and NASA for the use of XMM-Newton satellite, "Nuclear Spectrum Telescope Array" satellite and "Yuyan" satellite to carry out joint observations on RE J1034+396 and went smoothly in October 2018 Complete all observation tasks. After detailed data analysis, the research team finally confirmed that the X-ray oscillation signal of RE J1034+396 still exists and is stronger than 10 years ago. This is also the longest duration of the "heartbeat" signal of the supermassive black hole observed so far.
As the first author and corresponding author of the results paper, Jin Chichuan said, "This "heartbeat" signal is very beautiful. It proves for the first time that such periodic signals from supermassive black holes can be stable for a long time, and provides us with an in-depth study of their physical mechanism. Important clues and excellent opportunities of origin. RE J1034+396 can also become one of China’s next generation X-ray astronomical satellites, such as the Einstein probe satellite and eXTP satellite, one of the important observation targets.”
Chris Donne, one of the paper's collaborators, said: "Our current understanding is that this'heartbeat' signal originates from the periodic structural change process of high-temperature matter near the horizon of the black hole. Through GRS 1915+105, which is located inside the galaxy The comparison of small-mass black holes proves that although the mass difference of different types of black holes can be more than hundreds of thousands of times, they are very similar in the performance of some special behaviors."
At present, the research team led by Jin Chichuan is conducting an in-depth analysis of the data of multiple satellites with a view to understanding more about the nature of the "heartbeat" signal of the black hole and comparing it with the small-mass black hole in the Milky Way to obtain the physics near the black hole horizon A deeper understanding of the process.
It is understood that there are a large number of black holes with a mass of one million to hundreds of millions of suns in the universe, but periodic repetitive signals that produce high-energy radiation such as X-rays around the black holes are rarely found. The period of this signal carries the black hole horizon Key information about the scale and structure of nearby matter. A previously known black hole capable of producing a "heartbeat" signal is a small black hole named GRS 1915+105 in the spiral arm of the Milky Way. Its mass is only 12 times that of the sun. It is rapidly absorbing material from a nearby star, and An X-ray "heartbeat" signal is generated at a "heart rate" of about 67 Hz. Through a simple quality comparison, astronomers estimated the theoretical "heart rate" of RE J1034+396 and found it to be consistent with the measured "heart rate". (Finish)