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Black Holes May Promote Star Formation, Study Shows
Confirmed
In Short: A new study published in the Astrophysical Journal reveals that actively growing supermassive black holes may promote star formation in their host galaxies, contrary to previous assumptions.
The team used the VLT/MUSE instrument to capture spatially-resolved optical data, which allowed them to distinguish between star formation, radiation from the active black hole, and excitation by shocks.
Lisa Kewley, director of the Center for Astrophysics and Zhu's advisor, noted, “We’re seeing that black holes are not just consuming material at the centers of galaxies, but they’re actively reshaping their surroundings.”
The study found that star-forming rings or arcs appeared at distances of about 0.8 to 6 kiloparsecs from the galactic center.
Fast shockwaves were also observed extending perpendicular to the bicones of radiation from the black hole.
The research challenges the long-held belief that black holes prevent star formation in their host galaxies.
The team's findings suggest that black holes may play a dual role in galaxy evolution, both promoting and preventing star formation.
The study focused on galaxies whose central black holes are actively accreting nearby material.
Understanding these phenomena is crucial for comprehending the evolution of galaxies and the universe as a whole.
These cores, powered by supermassive black holes, outshine the rest of their galaxies combined, thanks to the black holes devouring matter and driving emissions of every type of electromagnetic radiation.
The research provides new insights into the complex interplay between black holes and their host galaxies, potentially shedding light on the evolution of our own Milky Way.
What this adds
The study adds to the growing body of evidence that black holes may have a more nuanced role in galaxy evolution than previously thought.
The research builds on earlier findings from the James Webb Space Telescope, which revealed that early galaxies contained massive stars and supermassive black holes, challenging previous theories about the formation of the universe.
Background
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed that early galaxies contained massive stars and supermassive black holes, challenging previous theories about the formation of the universe.
These findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggest that massive clouds of cold gas coalesced at the center of early galaxies and collapsed to form black holes, known as the Direct-Collapse Black Hole (DCBH) scenario.
What's confirmed
- “We’re seeing that black holes are not just consuming material at the centers of galaxies, but they’re actively reshaping their surroundings,” said Lisa Kewley, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, director of the Center, and Zhu’s advisor.
- “The most interesting phenomena about shocks is that they always go perpendicular to where the black hole’s injected outflows go,” Peixin said.
- The colors represent star formation in red, black-hole radiation in blue, and shocks in yellow.
What's still developing
- Shock excitation occurs when high-speed outflows from the central black hole collide with the interstellar medium.
- Today's universe is relatively quiet, with the peak of cosmic star formation around ten billion years ago now well behind us.
- Some of these young galaxies seemed to ‘retire’ almost as soon as they got going, with unexpectedly massive galaxies shutting down star formation within the universe's first two billion years.
- But studying these bright regions, called active galactic nuclei (AGNs), that are sprinkled across the cosmos can teach astronomers about how stars and galaxies form—and possibly shed light on our Milky Way.
- Their findings, published September 14 in the Astrophysical Journal, suggest that these active regions might promote star formation—contrary to what astronomers have long thought.
- Scientists mapped out the structure of nine bright cores of galaxies located near the Milky Way and revealed common patterns that could shed light on how the universe evolved At the heart of some galaxies lie extremely bright spots— far too luminous to be lit by stars alone.
- “In general, people think overall it’s preventing the star formation in host galaxies,” says study lead author Peixin Zhu, an astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian.
- Thanks to a series of observations made using the Very Large Telescope in Chile, research by Harvard Center for Astrophysics graduate student Peixin Zhu, shows active galactic nuclei (AGN) in nine nearby Seyfert galaxies appear to be associated with star formation.
- The black holes at the hearts of galaxies get the credit and/or blame for a lot of things in their hosts.
- For example, they take the blame for gobbling up star-forming material, effectively "quenching" starbirth in some areas of galaxies.
- On the bright side, it now turns out that some of them may be commonly participating in the births of stars, too.
- These galaxies contain star-forming rings or arcs, as well as regions of energized gas and fast shock fronts associated with energetic outflows interacting with neighboring gas clouds.
Sources
- Cfalink
- Fromlink
- Smithsonianmaglink
- Universe Todaylink
- Honehealthlink
- NPRlink
- Universe Todaylink
- ScienceAlertlink
- Awazthevoicelink
- BBClink
- Warpbeatlink
- Phys.orglink
- Thebrightersidelink
- Natureworldnewslink
- Dailygalaxylink
- WarpBeat — background on JWST Reveals Early Galaxies Had Massive Stars and Black Holes link
- Mind Facts - Why ? — video link