High-density molecular gas from the galaxy streams along the disk surface toward the black hole. The ratio of the matter that the black hole “eats,” and the amount “dropped” has actually been hard to measure.An international research team led by Takuma Izumi, an assistant professor at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to observe the supermassive black hole in the Circinus Galaxy, located 14 million light-years away in the instructions of the constellation Circinus. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), T. Izumi et al.ALMAs Role in Unveiling Black Hole MysteriesThanks to ALMAs high resolution, the team was the first in the world to measure the amount of inflow and outflow down to a scale of a couple of light-years around the black hole.
A fictional diagram of the interstellar medium circulation of active galactic nuclei based on the present observation results. High-density molecular gas from the galaxy streams along the disk surface area towards the black hole. The energy created by the high temperature of the product accumulated around the black hole damages the molecular gas and transforms it into atoms and plasma. The majority of these multiphase interstellar products are jets flowing external from the galactic center (primarily plasma jets are created straight above the disk, and generally atomic and molecular jets are generated diagonally). However, we found that the majority of the particles return to the disk like a water fountain. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), T. Izumi et al.Recent advancements in astrophysics have actually resulted in groundbreaking observations of the gas streams surrounding supermassive great voids. These observations, performed at an incredibly in-depth light-year scale, have exposed essential insights into the habits of these cosmic giants. Notably, researchers have discovered that while a significant amount of gas is drawn towards these great voids, only a small fraction– about 3 percent– is in fact consumed. The remainder of the gas is ejected and then recycled back into the host galaxy.Not all of the matter which falls towards a great void is absorbed, a few of it is ejected as outflows. However the ratio of the matter that the black hole “eats,” and the amount “dropped” has been challenging to measure.A worldwide research team led by Takuma Izumi, an assistant teacher at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to observe the supermassive black hole in the Circinus Galaxy, located 14 million light-years away in the instructions of the constellation Circinus. This black hole is understood to be actively feeding.The central region of the Circinus Galaxy observed with ALMA. Carbon monoxide gas (CO; suggesting the existence of medium-density molecular gas) is displayed in red; atomic carbon (C; showing the presence of atomic gas) in blue; hydrogen cyanide (HCN; showing the presence of high density molecular gas) in green; and the hydrogen recombination line (H36α; showing the existence of ionized gas) in pink. The size of the main thick gas disk (green) is around 6 light-years. The plasma outflow takes a trip practically perpendicular to the disk. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), T. Izumi et al.ALMAs Role in Unveiling Black Hole MysteriesThanks to ALMAs high resolution, the team was the very first on the planet to measure the amount of inflow and outflow down to a scale of a few light-years around the great void. By determining the flows of gasses in various states (molecular, atomic, and plasma) the team was able to identify the overall performance of black hole feeding and discovered that it was just about 3 percent. The team also verified that gravitational instability is driving the inflow.Analysis also revealed that the bulk of the expelled outflows are not quick adequate to be and get away the galaxy lost. They are recycled back into the circumnuclear regions around the black hole, and start to gradually fall towards the great void again.Reference: “Supermassive great void feeding and feedback observed on subparsec scales” by Takuma Izumi, Keiichi Wada, Masatoshi Imanishi, Kouichiro Nakanishi, Kotaro Kohno, Yuki Kudoh, Taiki Kawamuro, Shunsuke Baba, Naoki Matsumoto, Yutaka Fujita and Konrad R. W. Tristram, 2 November 2023, Science.DOI: 10.1126/ science.adf0569The research study was moneyed by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science..
