Powerful Jet of Energy from Black Hole Heading Towards Earth
The NASA James Webb Space Telescope has recently detected the most distant active supermassive black hole ever observed. Interestingly, this black hole is also smaller than any previously known in the early universe. This discovery, along with others, emphasizes the enigmatic nature of black holes. In a new development, a NASA mission has identified a supermassive black hole that is emitting a stream of incredibly intense energy bursts, and alarmingly, this jet is aimed directly at Earth. These occurrences are referred to as blazars.
NASA astronomers have made an exciting discovery of a supermassive black hole located about 400 million light years from Earth. This cosmic event, while terrifying, poses no immediate threat because it is far from Earth.
Markarian 421
Named Markarian 421, it is located in the constellation Ursa Major and was spotted by NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), an instrument designed to study the polarization of magnetic fields.
IXPE’s mission is to observe a property of magnetic fields called polarization, which refers to the orientation of the fields. The event, called Markarian 421, exploded the jet, which was a revelation to astronomers because it showed that the part of the jet where the particles are accelerated also has a magnetic field with a helical structure.
Supermassive black holes are known to have accretion disks, spinning disks of matter that gradually feed them over time. When they are actively eating, some of the material is channeled to their poles, where it is ejected at nearly the speed of light, resulting in highly energetic and intensely bright electromagnetic radiation. When these jets are directed directly at the Earth. Astronomers still do not know the firing mechanisms of these blazar jets.
According to NASA, the lead scientist behind the discovery and Italian space agency astrophysicist Laura Di Gesu said in a statement: “Markarian 421 is an old friend of high-energy astronomers. We were sure that the blazar would be a viable target for IXPE, but its findings exceeded our best expectations, successfully demonstrating how X-ray polarimetry enriches the different polarimetry of our magnetic field. regions of relativistic jets.”
Although scientists have studied blazar jets for many years, they still do not fully understand the physical processes that drive their behavior and the light they emit. However, a new technology called IXPE X-ray polarimetry allows them to see these jets in a whole new way. It measures the average direction of the electric field of light waves and gives researchers a unique picture of these blazar jets, their shape and where the light they produce comes from.
Scientists studying the typical outflow of powerful jets have discovered a spiral helix structure similar to the organization of human DNA.
