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Although black holes are invisible, various events occur in and around them that shape their host galaxy. An example is disk winds originating from the accretion disk of
Although black holes are invisible, various events occur in and around them that shape their host galaxy. An example is disk winds originating from the accretion disk of a black hole or neutron star. The accretion disk is a thin band of stellar gas and dust ejected from a nearby star.
The spinning disk creates strong winds that push and pull the spinning plasma. These disk winds can provide information about how supermassive black holes shape entire galaxies. Now, a team of astronomers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has observed for the first time a wider wind band in the twin Hercules X-1 system. This resulted in a two-dimensional wind map.
This is a distant system where a neutron star has ejected stellar material from a Sun-like star. The twisted accretion disk oscillates as the system’s center orbits the neutron star, revealing a more complete picture of the winds.
Astronomers had trouble studying the disk’s winds. This is because they only see very narrow winds, not wider. However, due to the unique wobble of this neutron star’s accretion disk, the team was able to study the mysterious winds in great detail as the disk moves up and down during its rotation.
“The disk really oscillates every 35 days, and winds originate from somewhere in the disk and cross our field of view at different heights over the disk over time. This makes vertical wind characteristics more pronounced,” said Peter Kosetz, a postdoctoral fellow at MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Studies. “It’s a very unique feature of this system that allows us to better understand it,” he said.
Disk winds are most commonly seen in X-ray binaries. However, it is unknown how these winds originate from black holes or neutron star systems. Some experts suggest that magnetic fields can shatter the disk and push material outward in the same direction as the wind. Others suspect that radiation from neutron stars is responsible for this phenomenon. The oscillating accretion disk on the Hercules X-1 provides a better understanding of the disk’s winds.
This research was carried out using two X-ray telescopes: the European Space Agency’s XMM Newton and NASA’s Chandra Observatory.
The new map provides information on the vertical shape, structure and speed of the wind (calculated at about one hundred kilometers per second or about one million miles per hour). By measuring the X-ray radiation, the researchers were able to determine the temperature and wind intensity at different altitudes. They found that the wind was rising from the disk at an angle of 12 degrees. Winds were colder and weaker at higher altitudes above the disc.
Astronomers can use this map to learn how disc winds affect the formation and evolution of galaxies.
“In the future, we will be able to image disc winds across a range of objects and determine how the properties of the wind change depending, for example, on the mass of the black hole or the amount of material it has accumulated. This will help determine how black holes and neutron stars affect our universe,” he said.
Source: Port Altele
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