NASA volgt superzware zwarte gaten in hun botsingscyclus

• Milky Way, likely formed larger galaxies through collisions in the early Universe.
• These newly-discovered merging dwarf galaxies can be used as analogs for more distant ones that are too faint to observe.
• The dwarf galaxies are on collision courses and are found in the galaxy clusters Abell 133 and Abell 1758S.

Evidence for two pairs of supermassive black holes in dwarf galaxies on collision courses has been found with Chandra. The two pairs are shown in X-rays from Chandra and optical light from the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope. The merger on the left is in a late stage and was given the single name of Mirabilis. The other merger is in the early stages and the two dwarf galaxies are named Elstir (bottom) and Vinteuil (top). Astronomers think that dwarf galaxies – those about 20 times less massive than the Milky Way – grow through mergers with others. This is an important process for galaxy growth in the early Universe and this discovery provides examples for scientists to study in greater detail. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Alabama/M. Micic et al.; Optical: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

A new study using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has tracked two pairs of supermassive black holes in dwarf galaxies on collision courses. This is the first evidence for such an impending encounter, providing scientists with important information about the growth of black holes in the early Universe.

By definition, dwarf galaxies contain stars with a total mass less than 3 billion Suns — or about 20 times less than the Milky Way. Astronomers have long suspected that dwarf galaxies merge, particularly in the relatively early Universe, in order to grow into the larger galaxies seen today. However, current technology cannot observe the first generation of dwarf galaxy mergers because they are extraordinarily faint at their great distances. Another tactic — looking for dwarf galaxy mergers closer by — had not been successful to date.

De nieuwe studie overwon deze uitdagingen door een systematisch onderzoek uit te voeren van Chandra’s diepe röntgenwaarnemingen en deze te vergelijken met infraroodgegevens van NASA’s Wide Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) en optische gegevens van de Canada, France en Hawaii Telescope (CFHT).

Chandra was bijzonder waardevol in dit onderzoek omdat het materiaal rond zwarte gaten tot miljoenen graden kan worden verwarmd, waardoor grote hoeveelheden röntgenstraling worden afgegeven. Het team zocht naar paren heldere röntgenbronnen in botsende dwergstelsels als bewijs van twee zwarte gaten, en ontdekte twee voorbeelden.

Bewijs voor een paar superzware zwarte gaten is gevonden in dwergstelsels in botsingscycli met Chandra. Het paar is te zien in röntgenstralen van Chandra en optisch licht van de Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. De fusie aan de linkerkant is in een laat stadium en heeft de eigen naam Mirabilis gekregen. De andere fusie bevindt zich nog in de beginfase en de twee dwergstelsels hebben de namen Elstir (onder) en Vinteuil (boven) gekregen. Astronomen geloven dat dwergstelsels – die 20 keer kleiner zijn dan de Melkweg – groeien door fusies met andere. Dit is een belangrijk proces voor de groei van sterrenstelsels in het vroege heelal en deze ontdekking biedt voorbeelden die wetenschappers in meer detail kunnen bestuderen. Krediet: Röntgenstralen: NASA/CXC/Univ. Alabama / m. Micic et al.; Optisch: Gemini Observatory International/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Eén paar bevindt zich in de Abell 133 cluster van melkwegstelsels op 760 miljoen lichtjaar van de aarde, te zien in de samengestelde afbeelding links. Chandra röntgengegevens in roze en optische gegevens van CFHT in blauw. Dit paar dwergstelsels lijkt zich in de late stadia van een fusie te bevinden en vertoont lange staarten veroorzaakt door getijdeneffecten van de botsing. De auteurs van de nieuwe studie noemden het Mirabilis, nadat het ernstig bedreigd is geworden[{” attribute=””>species of hummingbird known for their exceptionally long tails. Only one name was chosen because the merger of two galaxies into one is almost complete. The two Chandra sources show X-rays from material around the black holes in each galaxy.

X-ray and optical composite of Mirabilis. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Alabama/M. Micic et al.; Optical: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

The other pair was discovered in Abell 1758S, a galaxy cluster about 3.2 billion light-years away. The composite image from Chandra and CFHT is on the right, using the same colors as for Mirabilis. The researchers nicknamed the merging dwarf galaxies “Elstir” and “Vinteuil,” after fictional artists from Marcel Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time”. Vinteuil is the galaxy on the top and Elstir is the galaxy on the bottom. Both have Chandra sources associated with them, again from X-rays from material around the black holes in each galaxy. The researchers think these two have been caught in the early stages of a merger, causing a bridge of stars and gas to connect the two colliding galaxies from their gravitational interaction.

X-ray and optical composite of Elstir & Vinteuil. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Alabama/M. Micic et al.; Optical: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

The details of merging black holes and dwarf galaxies may provide insight to our Milky Way’s own past. Scientists think nearly all galaxies began as dwarf or other types of small galaxies and grew over billions of years through mergers. Follow-up observations of these two systems will allow astronomers to study processes that are crucial for understanding galaxies and their black holes in the earliest stages of the Universe.

Een paper waarin deze bevindingen worden beschreven, is gepubliceerd in een recent nummer van de[{” attribute=””>Astrophysical Journal.

Reference: “Two Candidates for Dual AGN in Dwarf-Dwarf Galaxy Mergers” by Marko Mićić, Olivia J. Holmes, Brenna N. Wells and Jimmy A. Irwin, 22 February 2023, The Astrophysical Journal.
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aca1bb

The authors of the study are Marko Micic, Olivia Holmes, Brenna Wells, and Jimmy Irwin, all from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.