Composite image of the Abell 2597 galaxy cluster showing the fountain-like flow of gas powered by the supermassive black hole in the central galaxy. Image via NRAO.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) released this new image on November 6, 2018. It’s a composite image of a giant elliptical galaxy – surrounded by a sprawling cluster of other galaxies – known as Abell 2597. The yellow parts of the image come from observations made by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and show a relatively cold gas. The red is data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) showing hot hydrogen gas in the same region. The purple shows extended hot, ionized gas as imaged by Chandra X-ray Observatory.
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This vast structure is a billion light-years from Earth. It’s one of our universe’s most massive structures. At the core of Abell 2597, NRAO said:
… a supermassive black hole is powering the cosmic equivalent of a monumental fountain, drawing in vast stores of cold molecular gas and spraying them back out again in an ongoing cycle.
Astronomers have long theorized that fountains such as this continually recirculate a galaxy’s star-forming fuel. But new data from ALMA – based on observations of Abell 2597 – show the first clear and compelling evidence for the simultaneous infalling and outflow of gas driven by a supermassive black hole. The researchers reported their observations in the peer-reviewed Astrophysical Journal.
Artist’s concept of Abell 2597 showing the central supermassive black hole expelling cold, molecular gas – like the pump of a giant galactic fountain. Image via NRAO/AUI/NSF; D. Berry.
Astrophysicist Grant Tremblay at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is lead author on the new paper. He said in a statement:
The supermassive black hole at the center of this giant galaxy acts like a mechanical ‘pump’ in a water fountain. This is one of the first systems in which we find clear evidence for both cold molecular gas inflow toward the black hole and outflow or uplift from the jets that the black hole launches.
According to the researchers, this entire system operates via a self-regulating feedback loop. The infalling material provides power for the fountain as it “drains” toward the central black hole, like water entering the pump of a fountain. This infalling gas then causes the black hole to ignite with activity, launching high-velocity jets of super-heated material that shoot out of the galaxy. As it travels, this material pushes out clumps and streamers of gas into the galaxy’s expansive halo, where it eventually rains back in on the black hole, triggering the entire process anew.
In total, about three billion solar masses of molecular gas is part of this fountain, forming a filamentary nebula that spans the innermost 100,000 light-years of the galaxy.
ALMA image of cold molecular gas in Abell 2597. Image via NRAO/G. Tremblay et al.
In an earlier study by the same authors published in the journal Nature, the researchers were able to verify the interconnection between the black hole and the galactic fountain by observing the region across a range of wavelengths, or portions of the spectrum. By studying the location and motion of molecules of carbon monoxide (CO) with ALMA, which shine brightly in millimeter-wavelength light, the researchers could measure the motion of the gas as it falls in toward the black hole.
Earlier data from the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) revealed warm, ionized gas being expelled from the galaxy – essentially the plume of the fountain. The new ALMA observations found clumps of cold, molecular gas in precisely the same locations as the warm gas seen in the earlier observations. Tremblay commented:
The unique aspect here is a very detailed coupled analysis of the source using data from ALMA and the MUSE instrument. The two facilities make for an incredibly powerful combination. ALMA revealed the distribution and motions of the cold molecular gas clouds, and MUSE did the same for the warm ionized gas.
The ALMA and MUSE data were combined with a new, ultra-deep observation of the cluster by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, revealing the hot phase of this fountain in exquisite detail, noted the researchers.
The observations also very convincingly support the hypothesis that the warm ionized and cold molecular nebulas are one and the same, with the warm ionized gas merely being the “shell” around the cold molecular cores that churn within this galaxy-scale fountain.
This multiwavelength approach offers an uncommonly complete picture of this system. Tremblay noted:
It’s like observing the rain cloud, rain, and puddle all at the same time.
While this is just one observation of one galaxy, the astronomers speculate that they may be observing a process that is common in galaxies and fundamental to their evolution.
Animation of the MUSE H-alpha data showing the different velocities of material in the “galactic fountain.” Image via ESO/G. Tremblay et al./NRAO.
Bottom line: At the core of the giant elliptical galaxy Abell 2597, a supermassive black hole is powering the cosmic equivalent of a gargantuan, ongoing fountain.
Source: A Galaxy-scale Fountain of Cold Molecular Gas Pumped by a Black Hole
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2SYfq8L
Composite image of the Abell 2597 galaxy cluster showing the fountain-like flow of gas powered by the supermassive black hole in the central galaxy. Image via NRAO.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) released this new image on November 6, 2018. It’s a composite image of a giant elliptical galaxy – surrounded by a sprawling cluster of other galaxies – known as Abell 2597. The yellow parts of the image come from observations made by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and show a relatively cold gas. The red is data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) showing hot hydrogen gas in the same region. The purple shows extended hot, ionized gas as imaged by Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The 2019 lunar calendars are here! Order yours before they’re gone. Makes a great gift.
This vast structure is a billion light-years from Earth. It’s one of our universe’s most massive structures. At the core of Abell 2597, NRAO said:
… a supermassive black hole is powering the cosmic equivalent of a monumental fountain, drawing in vast stores of cold molecular gas and spraying them back out again in an ongoing cycle.
Astronomers have long theorized that fountains such as this continually recirculate a galaxy’s star-forming fuel. But new data from ALMA – based on observations of Abell 2597 – show the first clear and compelling evidence for the simultaneous infalling and outflow of gas driven by a supermassive black hole. The researchers reported their observations in the peer-reviewed Astrophysical Journal.
Artist’s concept of Abell 2597 showing the central supermassive black hole expelling cold, molecular gas – like the pump of a giant galactic fountain. Image via NRAO/AUI/NSF; D. Berry.
Astrophysicist Grant Tremblay at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is lead author on the new paper. He said in a statement:
The supermassive black hole at the center of this giant galaxy acts like a mechanical ‘pump’ in a water fountain. This is one of the first systems in which we find clear evidence for both cold molecular gas inflow toward the black hole and outflow or uplift from the jets that the black hole launches.
According to the researchers, this entire system operates via a self-regulating feedback loop. The infalling material provides power for the fountain as it “drains” toward the central black hole, like water entering the pump of a fountain. This infalling gas then causes the black hole to ignite with activity, launching high-velocity jets of super-heated material that shoot out of the galaxy. As it travels, this material pushes out clumps and streamers of gas into the galaxy’s expansive halo, where it eventually rains back in on the black hole, triggering the entire process anew.
In total, about three billion solar masses of molecular gas is part of this fountain, forming a filamentary nebula that spans the innermost 100,000 light-years of the galaxy.
ALMA image of cold molecular gas in Abell 2597. Image via NRAO/G. Tremblay et al.
In an earlier study by the same authors published in the journal Nature, the researchers were able to verify the interconnection between the black hole and the galactic fountain by observing the region across a range of wavelengths, or portions of the spectrum. By studying the location and motion of molecules of carbon monoxide (CO) with ALMA, which shine brightly in millimeter-wavelength light, the researchers could measure the motion of the gas as it falls in toward the black hole.
Earlier data from the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) revealed warm, ionized gas being expelled from the galaxy – essentially the plume of the fountain. The new ALMA observations found clumps of cold, molecular gas in precisely the same locations as the warm gas seen in the earlier observations. Tremblay commented:
The unique aspect here is a very detailed coupled analysis of the source using data from ALMA and the MUSE instrument. The two facilities make for an incredibly powerful combination. ALMA revealed the distribution and motions of the cold molecular gas clouds, and MUSE did the same for the warm ionized gas.
The ALMA and MUSE data were combined with a new, ultra-deep observation of the cluster by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, revealing the hot phase of this fountain in exquisite detail, noted the researchers.
The observations also very convincingly support the hypothesis that the warm ionized and cold molecular nebulas are one and the same, with the warm ionized gas merely being the “shell” around the cold molecular cores that churn within this galaxy-scale fountain.
This multiwavelength approach offers an uncommonly complete picture of this system. Tremblay noted:
It’s like observing the rain cloud, rain, and puddle all at the same time.
While this is just one observation of one galaxy, the astronomers speculate that they may be observing a process that is common in galaxies and fundamental to their evolution.
Animation of the MUSE H-alpha data showing the different velocities of material in the “galactic fountain.” Image via ESO/G. Tremblay et al./NRAO.
Bottom line: At the core of the giant elliptical galaxy Abell 2597, a supermassive black hole is powering the cosmic equivalent of a gargantuan, ongoing fountain.
Source: A Galaxy-scale Fountain of Cold Molecular Gas Pumped by a Black Hole
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/2SYfq8L
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