Astronomers found the most distant black hole ever identified in X-rays (in a galaxy dubbed UHZ1) using the Chandra and Webb space telescopes. X-ray emission is a telltale signature of a growing supermassive black hole. This result might explain how some of the very first supermassive great voids in deep space formed. These images show the galaxy cluster Abell 2744 that UHZ1 lies behind, in X-rays from Chandra and infrared data from Webb, in addition to close-ups of the black hole host galaxy UHZ1. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/ Ákos Bogdán; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/ STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/ L. Frattare & & K. Arcand
NASA Telescopes Discover Record-Breaking Black Hole
This image reveals the most remote black hole ever determined through X-rays, potentially clarifying the formation of the earliest supermassive black holes in the cosmos. This discovery was made utilizing X-rays from NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory (portrayed in purple) and infrared data from the James Webb Space Telescope (shown in red, green, blue).
Galactic Distances and Observations
The very remote great void is located in the galaxy UHZ1 in the instructions of the galaxy cluster Abell 2744. The galaxy cluster is about 3.5 billion light-years from Earth. Webb information, nevertheless, reveal that UHZ1 is much farther away than Abell 2744. At some 13.2 billion light-years away, UHZ1 is seen when the universe was just 3% of its present age.
Gravitational Lensing and X-ray Detection
By utilizing over 2 weeks of observations from Chandra, researchers had the ability to find X-ray emission from UHZ1– a telltale signature of a growing supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy. The X-ray signal is extremely faint and Chandra was just able to find it– even with this long observation– since of the phenomenon called gravitational lensing that improved the signal by an aspect of 4.
Imaging Techniques and Orientation
The purple parts of the image program X-rays from big quantities of hot gas in Abell 2744. The infrared image shows hundreds of galaxies in the cluster, along with a couple of foreground stars. The insets zoom into a small area fixated UHZ1. The little item in the Webb image is the distant galaxy UHZ1 and the center of the Chandra image reveals X-rays from material near the supermassive black hole in the middle of UHZ1. The plus size of the X-ray source compared to the infrared view of the galaxy is because it represents the tiniest size that Chandra can solve. The X-rays in fact come from a region that is much smaller sized than the galaxy.
Smoothing across many pixels was carried out for the big image, to highlight the faint cluster emission, at the expenditure of not revealing faint X-ray point sources like UHZ1. Much less smoothing was applied to the close-up so faint X-ray sources are noticeable.
Illustration: Formation of a Heavy Seed Black Hole from Direct Collapse of a Massive Cloud of Gas. Credit: NASA/STScI/Leah Hustak
Significance of the Discovery
This discovery is necessary for understanding how some supermassive great voids– those that contain approximately billions of solar masses and live in the centers of galaxies– can reach colossal masses right after the Big Bang. Do they form directly from the collapse of huge clouds of gas, developing black holes weighing in between about 10 thousand and a hundred thousand suns? Or do they come from explosions of the very first stars that create great voids weighing just between about ten and a hundred suns?
Research Findings and Theoretical Implications
The team of astronomers found strong proof that the recently found great void in UHZ1 was born massive. They estimate its mass falls in between 10 and 100 million suns, based on the brightness and energy of the X-rays. This mass variety is comparable to that of all the stars in the galaxy where it lives, which is in plain contrast to great voids in the centers of galaxies in the neighboring universe that usually contain just about a tenth of a percent of the mass of their host galaxys stars.
The large mass of the great void at a young age, plus the quantity of X-rays it produces and the brightness of the galaxy identified by Webb, all agree with theoretical forecasts in 2017 for an “Outsize Black Hole” that straight formed from the collapse of a huge cloud of gas.
A crucial sign of a growing supermassive black hole– X-ray emission– has actually been discovered in a very far-off galaxy.
This galaxy, UHZ1, is 13.2 billion light-years away, seen when deep space was just 3% of its existing age.
NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory and James Webb Space Telescope joined forces to make this discovery.
This is thought about the best evidence to date that some early black holes formed from enormous clouds of gas.
Astronomers have discovered the most far-off black hole ever observed in X-rays, situated in galaxy UHZ1, over 13 billion light-years away. Using information from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope, the findings suggest the black hole was enormous at birth, challenging present theories about the early universes supermassive black holes. Astronomers found the most far-off black hole ever detected in X-rays (in a galaxy called UHZ1) utilizing the Chandra and Webb space telescopes. These images show the galaxy cluster Abell 2744 that UHZ1 is located behind, in X-rays from Chandra and infrared information from Webb, as well as close-ups of the black hole host galaxy UHZ1. The little things in the Webb image is the far-off galaxy UHZ1 and the center of the Chandra image shows X-rays from product close to the supermassive black hole in the middle of UHZ1.
Astronomers have discovered the most remote great void ever observed in X-rays, situated in galaxy UHZ1, over 13 billion light-years away. Utilizing information from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the James Webb Space Telescope, the findings suggest the great void was huge at birth, challenging current theories about the early universes supermassive great voids. Credit: NASA
Ongoing Research and Collaboration
The scientists prepare to utilize this and other results putting in from Webb and those integrating information from other telescopes to fill out a bigger image of the early universe.
The paper explaining the outcomes appears in Nature Astronomy. The authors include Akos Bogdan (Center for Astrophysics|Harvard & & Smithsonian), Andy Goulding (Princeton University), Priyamvada Natarajan (Yale University), Orsolya Kovacs (Masaryk University, Czech Republic), Grant Tremblay (CfA), Urmila Chadayammuri (CfA), Marta Volonteri (Institut dAstrophysique de Paris, France), Ralph Kraft (CfA), William Forman (CfA), Christine Jones (CfA), Eugene Churazov (Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Germany), and Irina Zhuravleva (University of Chicago).
The Webb information utilized in both papers is part of a survey called the Ultradeep Nirspec and nirCam ObserVations before the Epoch of Reionization (UNCOVER). A detailed analysis paper that compares observed homes of UHZ1 with theoretical designs for Outsize Black Hole Galaxies is presently under evaluation and a preprint is available here.
Recommendations:
” Evidence for heavy-seed origin of early supermassive black holes from a z ≈ 10 X-ray quasar” by Ákos Bogdán, Andy D. Goulding, Priyamvada Natarajan, Orsolya E. Kovács, Grant R. Tremblay, Urmila Chadayammuri, Marta Volonteri, Ralph P. Kraft, William R. Forman, Christine Jones, Eugene Churazov and Irina Zhuravleva, 6 November 2023, Nature Astronomy.DOI: 10.1038/ s41550-023-02111-9.
” UNCOVER: The Growth of the First Massive Black Holes from JWST/NIRSpec– Spectroscopic Redshift Confirmation of an X-Ray Luminous AGN at z = 10.1″ by Andy D. Goulding, Jenny E. Greene, David J. Setton, Ivo Labbe, Rachel Bezanson, Tim B. Miller, Hakim Atek, Ákos Bogdán, Gabriel Brammer, Iryna Chemerynska, Sam E. Cutler, Pratika Dayal, Yoshinobu Fudamoto, Seiji Fujimoto, Lukas J. Furtak, Vasily Kokorev, Gourav Khullar, Joel Leja, Danilo Marchesini, Priyamvada Natarajan, Erica Nelson, Pascal A. Oesch, Richard Pan, Casey Papovich, Sedona H. Price, Pieter van Dokkum, Bingjie Wang, 冰洁 王, John R. Weaver, Katherine E. Whitaker and Adi Zitrin, 22 September 2023, The Astrophysical Journal Letters.DOI: 10.3847/ 2041-8213/ acf7c5.
NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatorys Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
The James Webb Space Telescope is the worlds leading area science observatory. Webb will resolve secrets in our planetary system, look beyond to far-off worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our location in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.
