A strange pulsation from the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way called Sagittarius A has surprised scientists.
Related topics
Two astrophysicists from Mexico’s National Autonomous University, Gustavo Magellan Guiján and Sergio Mendoza, observed Sagittarius A’s gamma-ray flux fluctuations every 76 minutes.
Every 76 minutes for Sagittarius.
The research team, published on arXiv, found it similar, based on changes in the black hole’s radio and X-ray emissions, indicating the orbital motion of something orbiting the black hole frantically.
According to the “Science Alert” website, black holes do not emit any radiation that we can currently detect, but the space around them is a different matter. For example, in an extreme gravitational system outside the event horizon of a black hole, a lot can happen.
The light from Sagittarius A is emitted at many wavelengths, and the strength of this light changes dramatically over time, and astronomers have discovered a pattern in at least some of these wavelengths.
According to a paper published in 2022, the radio waves fluctuate on a time scale of about 70 minutes or so, but as recently as 2021, gamma radiation was linked to Sagittarius A.
Magellan Quijon and Mendoza thought that the gamma-ray data might be hiding some secrets, so they began to analyze it. They took publicly available data recorded by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope between June and December 2022, processed it, and conducted a study on circulation patterns.
Every 76.32 minutes, Sagittarius emits a burst of gamma radiation, the most energetic wavelength range of light in the universe.
The similarity in frequency of radio and X-ray bursts points to a common cause, and the research team says that radio bursts have the same periodicity as gamma-ray bursts. The X-ray flare, at 149 min, has a double period; This is unlikely to be a mere coincidence, indicating that its duration coincides with the gamma ray and radio periods.
A black hole emits no radiation, and since this regular, continuous periodicity is often a sign of orbital motion, there may be a physical mechanism behind the orbiting of a black hole.
Al Ain News
Responsibility for News: The Cedar News website is not responsible for this news, in form or content, and expresses only the views of its source or author.
“Award-winning beer geek. Extreme coffeeaholic. Introvert. Avid travel specialist. Hipster-friendly communicator.”
