The growth of supermassive black holes is raising several questions for the global astronomers. How do they grow so big? This is the main question that is disturbing astronomers and space researchers’ communities.
Furthermore, a team of international astronomers found a powerful magnetic rotating wind in their latest research, 2024. They believe that this rotation of magnetic wind is responsible for the growth of black holes. Researchers are saying that this swirling wind activity is associated with both the birth of new stars and the growth of black holes.
No doubt that nearly most galaxies have a black hole in the middle of them. Scientists and astronomers are trying to find a clue to their mysterious growth. To explore this mystery, a team of scientists from Northwestern University and Chalmers tried to study a nearby galaxy ESO320-G030. No doubt, it is a very active galaxy and produces stars very rapidly.
Susanne Aalto, Professor of Radio Astronomy at Chalmers University of Technology said:
“Since this galaxy is very luminous in the infrared, telescopes can resolve striking details in its center. We wanted to measure light from molecules carried by winds from the galaxy’s core, hoping to trace how the winds are launched by a growing, or soon-to-be-growing, supermassive black hole. By using ALMA, we were able to study light from behind thick layers of dust and gas.”
Additionally, Susanne Aalto said:
“We can see how the winds form a spiraling structure, billowing out from the galaxy’s center. When we measured the rotation, mass, and velocity of the material flowing outwards, we were surprised to find that we could rule out many explanations for the power of the wind, star formation for example. Instead, the flow outwards may be powered by the inflow of gas and seems to be held together by magnetic fields.”
All scientists of this research team think that black holes are growing due to this spiraling powerful magnetic wind.
Mark Gorski, a professor at Northwestern University shared his observation about black holes through these words:
“It is well-established that stars in the first stages of their evolution grow with the help of rotating winds accelerated by magnetic fields, just like the wind in this galaxy. Our observations show that supermassive black holes and tiny stars can grow by similar processes but on very different scales.”
However, the space scientists want to study this phenomenon in more detail. Also, they want to explore that is this discovery is the right answer to solve this mystery of black holes’ growth. Due to this reason, they want to explore other galaxies to see how common this phenomenon is.
Mark Gorski also said:
“Far from all questions about this process are answered. In our observations, we see clear evidence of a rotating wind that helps regulate the growth of the galaxy’s central black hole. Now that we know what to look for, the next step is to find out how common a phenomenon is. And if this is a stage that all galaxies with supermassive black holes go through, what happens to them next?”
Let’s see what else scientists will find in their future research to reveal the mystery of black hole growth.
Reference:
- M. D. Gorski, S. Aalto, S. König, C. F. Wethers, C. Yang, S. Muller, K. Onishi, M. Sato, N. Falstad, J. G. Mangum, S. T. Linden, F. Combes, S. Martín, M. Imanishi, K. Wada, L. Barcos-Muñoz, F. Stanley, S. García-Burillo, P. P. van der Werf, A. S. Evans, C. Henkel, S. Viti, N. Harada, T. Díaz-Santos, J. S. Gallagher, E. González-Alfonso. A spectacular galactic scale magnetohydrodynamic powered wind in ESO 320-G030. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2024; 684: L11 DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202348821
