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A team of astronomers has discovered 100 newly identified supermassive black holes that are ideal laboratories for extreme physics experiments. These black holes, scientifically known as ‘blazars’, release explosive jets of matter and radiation directly at Earth, providing researchers with opportunities to study theories of relativity and how particles behave at high energies.
Leader of the high energy astrophysics group at Penn State, Abe Falcon, who worked on the research, said in a statement, “Blazars are exciting to study because their properties allow us to answer questions about supermassive black holes throughout the universe.” Blazars tend to emit light across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from radio waves to energetic gamma rays. The team found these new blazars by observing unclassified high-energy cosmic emissions with telescopes.
The study found that blazar activities are directly linked to how supermassive black holes gather mass and unveil how these cosmic titans grow to millions or even billions of times the mass of the sun. Blazar emissions follow the ‘blazar sequence’ theory that predicts how the lower-energy peak for bright blazars is further towards the red, or lower-energy end, of the electromagnetic spectrum than the same peak for dimmer blazars.
The team analyzed a catalog of gamma-ray sources detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, finding high-energy emissions that hadn’t yet linked them with a low-energy peak from the same source. For every blazar seen in gamma rays, astronomers found a counterpart emission in X-rays, ultraviolet light, or visible light detected by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.
The research used machine learning and physical modeling to identify dim blazars in the blue, higher-energy light. Going forward, the team will attempt to use this dataset to make predictions about the blazars astronomers are unable to detect directly. This future study could further test the blazar sequence, show the strength of a blazar jet’s magnetic field, and how fast the charged particles within it are moving.
The team’s research has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal and was published on the preprint server arXiv on May 3.
FAQ:
What is a black hole?
A black hole is a region of spacetime exhibiting gravitational acceleration so strong that nothing—no particles or even electromagnetic radiation such as light—can escape from it.
What is a blazar?
A blazar is a galaxy with a rapidly spinning supermassive black hole at its center that releases explosive jets of matter and radiation directly at Earth.
What are the benefits of studying blazars?
Blazars provide researchers with opportunities to challenge theories of relativity, how particles behave at high energies, potential sources of cosmic rays that arrive on Earth, and the evolution and formation of supermassive black holes and their jets.
How did the team find these new blazars?
The team analyzed a catalog of gamma-ray sources detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, finding high-energy emissions that had not yet been linked with a low-energy peak from the same source. For every blazar seen in gamma rays, the astronomers found a counterpart emission in X-rays, ultraviolet light, or visible light detected by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.
What is the blazar sequence theory?
The blazar sequence theory predicts that the lower-energy peak for bright blazars will be further towards the red, or lower-energy end, of the electromagnetic spectrum than the same peak for dimmer blazars.
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