. 24/7 Space News .
STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Astronomers discover powerful cosmic double whammy
by Staff Writers
Boston MA (SPX) Jan 06, 2017


Image courtesy X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/R. van Weeren et al; Optical: NAOJ/Subaru. For a larger version of this image please go here.

Astronomers have discovered a cosmic one-two punch unlike any ever seen before. Two of the most powerful phenomena in the universe, a supermassive black hole and the collision of giant galaxy clusters, have combined to create a stupendous cosmic particle accelerator.

By combining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India, the NSF's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, and other telescopes, researchers have found out what happens when matter ejected by a giant black hole is swept up in the merger of two enormous galaxy clusters.

"We have seen each of these spectacular phenomena separately in many places," said Reinout van Weeren of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, Mass., who led the study that appears in the inaugural issue of the journal Nature Astronomy. "This is the first time, however, that we seen them clearly linked together in the same system."

This cosmic double whammy is found in a pair of colliding galaxy clusters called Abell 3411 and Abell 3412 located about two billion light-years from Earth. The two clusters are both very massive, each weighing about a quadrillion or a million billion times the mass of the Sun.

The comet-shaped appearance of the X-rays detected by Chandra is produced by hot gas from one cluster plowing through the hot gas of the other cluster. Optical data from the Keck Observatory and Japan's Subaru telescope, both on Maunakea, Hawaii, detected the galaxies in each cluster.

First, at least one spinning, supermassive black hole in one of the galaxy clusters produced a rotating, tightly-wound magnetic funnel. The powerful electromagnetic fields associated with this structure have accelerated some of the inflowing gas away from the vicinity of the black hole in the form of an energetic, high-speed jet.

Then, these accelerated particles in the jet were accelerated again when they encountered colossal shock waves cosmic versions of sonic booms generated by supersonic aircraft produced by the collision of the massive gas clouds associated with the galaxy clusters.

"It's almost like launching a rocket into low-Earth orbit and then getting shot out of the solar system by a second rocket blast," said co-author Felipe Andrade-Santos, also of the CfA. "These particles are among the most energetic particles observed in the universe, thanks to the double injection of energy."

This discovery solves a long-standing mystery in galaxy cluster research about the origin of beautiful swirls of radio emission stretching for millions of light-years, detected in Abell 3411 and Abell 3412 with the GMRT.

The team determined that as the shock waves travel across the cluster for hundreds of millions of years, the doubly accelerated particles produce giant swirls of radio emission.

"This result shows that a remarkable combination of powerful events generate these particle acceleration factories, which are the largest and most powerful in the universe," said co-author William Dawson of Lawrence Livermore National Lab in Livermore, Calif. "It is a bit poetic that it took a combination of the world's biggest observatories to understand this."

Without receiving an initial kick in energy from the black hole, particles that are only accelerated by the shock waves in the cluster collision would not be energetic enough to produce the observed radio emission. Future deep radio and X-ray studies should reveal many more examples of this phenomenon.


Comment on this article using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Chandra X-Ray Center
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It






Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Hubble gazes at a cosmic megamaser
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 01, 2017
This galaxy has a far more exciting and futuristic classification than most - it hosts a megamaser. Megamasers are intensely bright, around 100 million times brighter than the masers found in galaxies like the Milky Way. The entire galaxy essentially acts as an astronomical laser that beams out microwave emission rather than visible light (hence the 'm' replacing the 'l'). A megamaser is a ... read more


STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Tech outlook dampened by political uncertainty

NASA Assigns Upcoming Space Station Crew Members

Space station battery replacements to begin New Year's Eve

Launch of Russia's new progress spacecraft set for February 2

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
SpaceX ready to launch again

Europe and Russia looking at Space Tug Project

India to develop large scale solid fuel mixer

Mission contracts secure Commercial Crew operations for coming years

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Hues in a Crater Slope

Odyssey recovering from precautionary pause in activity

3-D images reveal features of Martian polar ice caps

Small Troughs Growing on Mars May Become 'Spiders'

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
China Plans to Launch 1st Mars Probe by 2020 - State Council Information Office

China to expand int'l cooperation on space sciences

China sees rapid development of space science and technology

China Space Plan to Develop "Strength and Size"

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Airbus DS and Energia eye new medium-class satellite platform

OneWeb announces key funding form SoftBank Group and other investors

Space as a Driver for Socio-Economic Sustainable Development

SoftBank delivers first $1 bn of Trump pledge, to space firm

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Russian static discharge measure unit to prolong satellite equipment lifespan

How to 3-D print your own sonic tractor beam

Saab, UAE sign radar support deal

Elbit contracted for airborne laser designator work

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
The blob can learn and teach

Searching a sea of 'noise' to find exoplanets - using only data as a guide

Microlensing Study Suggests Most Common Outer Planets Likely Neptune-mass

Exciting new creatures discovered on ocean floor

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
York U research identifies icy ridges on Pluto

Exploring Pluto and the Wild Back Yonder

Juno Captures Jupiter 'Pearl'

Juno Mission Prepares for December 11 Jupiter Flyby









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.