3C 75里的旋舞双黑洞

2022年6月5日

Two Black Holes Dancing in 3C 75
Image Credit: X-Ray: NASA/CXC/D. Hudson, T. Reiprich et al. (AIfA); Radio: NRAO/VLA/ NRL

Explanation: What’s happening at the center of active galaxy 3C 75? The two bright sources at the center of this composite x-ray (blue)/ radio (pink) image are co-orbiting supermassive black holes powering the giant radio source 3C 75. Surrounded by multimillion degree x-ray emitting gas, and blasting out jets of relativistic particles the supermassive black holes are separated by 25,000 light-years. At the cores of two merging galaxies in the Abell 400 galaxy cluster they are some 300 million light-years away. Astronomers conclude that these two supermassive black holes are bound together by gravity in a binary system in part because the jets’ consistent swept back appearance is most likely due to their common motion as they speed through the hot cluster gas at about 1200 kilometers per second. Such spectacular cosmic mergers are thought to be common in crowded galaxy cluster environments in the distant universe. In their final stages, the mergers are expected to be intense sources of gravitational waves.

Tomorrow’s picture: Milky Way doomed

3C 75里的旋舞双黑洞
影像提供: X射线: NASA/CXC/D. Hudson, T. Reiprich et al. (AIfA); 射电: NRAO/VLA/ NRL

说明: 活跃星系3C 75的核心发生什么事？这幅结合X射线（蓝）及射电（粉红）数据的影像里之二个亮斑，是二颗相互旋绕的超大质量黑洞，它们也是庞大射电源3C 75的能量源。这二个相隔约25,000光年的超大质量黑洞，周围环绕着温度高达数百万度的X射线辐射云气，也会射出相对论性的粒子喷流。它们是位在Abell 400星系团内，离我们约有3亿光年远的2个合并中的星系之核心。天文学家认为这二个超大质量黑洞，是被重力束缚在一起的双黑洞系统，部份理由是喷流之所以具有向后喷洒的外观，极可能是它们以每秒1,200公里的高速一起穿过炽热星系团气体所致。而在拥挤的星系团里，这类壮观的合并事件被认为是遥远宇宙中很常见的现象。在合并的最后阶段，预期它们将会成为很强烈的引力波源。

明日的图片: Milky Way doomed