An international team of astronomers led by Dr. Congya Zhang from the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics at Masaryk University's Faculty of Science has revealed how supermassive black holes influence the environment in galaxy clusters. The results were published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature and provide new insights into why fewer stars are born in the universe than long assumed.
Turbulent gas in the Perseus galaxy cluster
Astronomers focused on the Perseus galaxy cluster, which has a supermassive black hole at its center. Using the new Japanese XRISM X-ray telescope, they were able to map in detail the velocities of the hot intergalactic gas that fills the space between galaxies. Observations showed that the black hole—approximately 200 times more massive than the black hole at the center of our galaxy—causes chaotic turbulent movements of gas at speeds of up to around 200 km/s.
Not a cosmic vacuum cleaner, but a source of energy
Contrary to the widespread notion of black holes as objects that absorb everything around them, it turns out that most of the attracted gas is ejected back into the surrounding universe. Strong jets and winds from the vicinity of the black hole supply energy to the hot gas, mixing it and keeping it in motion.
Why are no new stars being formed?
Only about 15% of the mass of the universe consists of ordinary matter composed of atoms, and only a small fraction of that is bound in stars and galaxies. In galaxy clusters, it has long been expected that hot gas would gradually cool and lead to the formation of new stars. However, measurements from the XRISM satellite suggest that turbulence driven by supermassive black holes heats the gas and effectively prevents this process.
"These results provide fundamental insights into the feedback of supermassive black holes and help explain why only a small fraction of the ordinary matter in the universe is converted into stars," says lead author Congyao Zhang, who came to Masaryk University from the University of Chicago.
International collaboration
Scientists from the entire international XRISM mission collaboration participated in the study. The published work represents one of the key scientific results of the first years of this mission and a significant contribution by Masaryk University to current space research.
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