Multi-massive black hole new detection method proposed… “Galaxy research expects a big role”
A research team at Kyungpook National University has proposed a new detection method for multi-massive black holes.
A team of postdoctoral researcher Shin Jae-jin of the School of Earth Systems Science, Professor Min-Jin Kim, and Professor Jong-Hak Woo of Seoul National University found evidence that there is a second massive black hole in the center of NGC 1068, a galaxy 47 million light-years away from Earth by analyzing the gas motion in the center of the galaxy.
A galaxy grows into a massive galaxy as neighboring galaxies collide and merge.
In the centers of most heavy galaxies, there are massive black holes with masses ranging from one million to billions of times the mass of the Sun.
Merging galaxies can expect two or more multi-megamass black holes, and these multi-megamass black holes are considered to be the key to understanding the stages of galactic merging.
Black holes are celestial bodies that cannot even escape light due to a strong gravitational field, and massive black holes are very difficult to observe in general cases.
However, it can be observed in the form of an active galactic nucleus that occurs when matter enters a massive black hole.
Accordingly, multiple megamass black holes are mainly found in the form of multiple active galactic nuclei.
The main method of detecting multiple active galactic nuclei is to find multiple nuclei in galaxies observed in different wavelength bands.
Only about 30 multi-megamass black holes were discovered using this method, and additional multi-megamass black holes detection is of paramount importance for statistical studies.
The research team at Kyungpook National University analyzed the gas motion in the center of NGC 1068 using observation data from a super-giant telescope, an 8.2m telescope located in Chile.
The results found another gas eruption from an area 600 light-years northeast of the galactic center, in addition to a gas eruption from the well-known active galactic nucleus in the galactic center.
Gas eruption is a phenomenon in which the surrounding gas is pushed out by enormous energy from the active galactic nucleus.
It is a phenomenon frequently found in active galactic nuclei and is considered one of the powerful indicators of active galactic nuclei.
The presence of another gaseous eruption suggests the possibility of another active galactic nucleus in NGC 1068.
This study is meaningful in that it has found multiple active galactic nuclei using gas motion in addition to the conventional photographic method.
Researcher Jaejin Shin said, “By easily applying a new method using gas motion to a large number of existing data, we will be able to find additional multi-massive black holes. This study will play a big role in the process of understanding galaxy consolidation and further galactic evolution. I expect to do it.”
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He is in charge of Daegu-gu/gun offices, education offices, and sports.