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A supermassive black hole has been found hiding in a ring of cosmic dust by scientists who are studying some of the brightest and most mysterious objects in the universe.
Astronomers have been looking at active galactic nuclei (AGN), which are found in the middle of some galaxies and are powered by supermassive black holes, for decades.
These black holes feed on large volumes of cosmic dust and gas.
But before the gas and dust are eaten up, this material spirals towards the black hole and huge amounts of energy are released in the process, often causing an AGN to outshine all the stars in the galaxy.
Detailed images, and analysis of changes in dust temperature – from around room temperature to about 1,200C – allowed the researchers to build a picture of the dust and pinpoint where the black hole must lie.
The astronomers suggest the dust with the black hole at its centre supports predictions made around 30 years ago.
Violeta Gamez Rosas, from Leiden University in the Netherlands, who led the researchers, said: “The real nature of the dust clouds and their role in both feeding the black hole and determining how it looks when viewed from Earth have been central questions in AGN studies over the last three decades.
“Whilst no single result will settle all the questions we have, we have taken a major step in understanding how AGNs work.”
AGNs were first spotted in the 1950s, and astronomers have been curious about them ever since.
Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO’s VLTI), researchers have taken a step towards understanding how they work and what they look like up close.
By making detailed observations of the centre of the galaxy Messier 77, the astronomers detected a thick ring of cosmic dust and gas hiding a supermassive black hole.
They say this discovery provides vital…
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Source : skynews
