NASA announced this week that if it were located within our solar system, it could traverse the distance from Earth to the Moon in a mere 14 minutes, swiftly speeding through intergalactic space with such velocity that an imperceptible creature is roaming freely.
According to the space agency, the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy is twice its own diameter and is a “never-before-seen contrail of newborn stars” that stretches for 200,000 light-years. This phenomenon is attributed to a supermassive black hole, referred to as a “monster,” which weighs as much as 20 million suns.
From where did it originate?
NASA stated that the supermassive black hole, currently hurtling through outer space, most likely formed due to “an uncommon and peculiar cosmic game of galactic billiards,” amidst three other colossal black holes.
Astronomers believe that when two galaxies merged, their two supermassive black holes at the centers came together and combined. This event, which happened around 50 million years ago, could span a significant period in history. Another galaxy, carrying its own black hole, joined the merger at a certain point.
NASA clarified that the tumultuous interaction between the three black holes resulted in a disorderly and precarious arrangement. “The remaining two black holes depleted the momentum of the solitary black hole and were subsequently expelled from the central galaxy.”
This unique black hole then departed while the other two moved in the opposite direction.
NASA stated that instead of devouring stars in its path like a celestial Pac-Man, the fast-moving black hole is colliding with gas in its vicinity to stimulate the creation of new stars within a narrow pathway.
How did stargazers discover it?
Astronomers said that NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope “unintentionally” captured the phenomenon that had never been seen before.
Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University in New Haven, Conn., Who was searching for globular star clusters in a neighboring dwarf galaxy, exclaimed, “It is a complete stroke of luck that we unexpectedly came across it.” “While casually examining the Hubble image, I suddenly detected a small streak. Initially, I assumed it was a cosmic ray striking the camera detector and producing a linear imaging anomaly. However, even after eliminating cosmic rays, the streak persisted. It appeared unlike anything we have ever observed.”
The trail following the black hole is extremely luminous and exceptionally uncommon, as Van Dokkum’s team conducted further investigation known as spectroscopy to examine the light’s energy using the W. M. Keck Observatories in Hawaii, he realized that what he observed was peculiar.
Encircling the host galaxy, van Dokkum’s investigation prompted him to conclude that he was “observing the consequences of a black hole traversing a surrounding cloud of gas.”
What is it doing?
As per NASA, the supermassive black hole is “moving at an exceptionally high speed to pause for a meal,” up until now. In its path, it has generated fresh stars instead.
Van Dokkum expressed, “The disturbance following the black hole that we are observing. The disturbance following a ship that we are observing. Represents the consequence. Following the black hole, we are witnessing the process of star creation. And has the capability to generate stars, as the gas cools.”
The researchers believe that the trail must be filled with many new stars, making it bright. At the same time, the black hole at the end of the column stretches back to its parent galaxy.
Van Dokkum remarked, “The precise functioning of it remains unclear. The gas in its path experiences a shock due to the supersonic and highly rapid collision caused by the movement of the black hole through the gas.”
In the coming years, additional instances of these “stellar streaks” could potentially be discovered using the forthcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from NASA, which will offer a comprehensive perspective of the cosmos. To verify its identity as a black hole, researchers intend to conduct subsequent observations using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Further investigation is still required concerning this exceptional discovery.