Astronomy enthusiasts are thrilled as a new space telescope unveiled astonishing details about a supermassive black hole and the remnants of a supernova.
The XRISM mission has discovered that the temperature of iron ions in the supernova can hit a scorching 10 billion degrees Celsius. It’s also pinpointed the inner radius of the doughnut-shaped torus around the supermassive black hole NGC 4151, which is roughly 0.1 light-years across that’s a whopping 946 billion kilometres.
This particular black hole is believed to be a colossal 30 million times heavier than our Sun.
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Astronomers have been sharing the first scientific findings from this new X-ray telescope, and they’re nothing short of impressive, coming in less than a year after the telescope was sent into space.
(Image: JAXA / SWNS)
These initial results, published by the XRISM team a project spearheaded by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) with support from ESA demonstrate the instrument’s exceptional ability to measure the velocity and temperature of super-heated gas, known as plasma, and to map out the complex three-dimensional structures surrounding a black hole and a star that’s gone supernova.
In one of its “first light” observations, XRISM turned its gaze to N132D, a supernova remnant in the Large Magellanic Cloud located some 160,000 light-years away from us. This cosmic ‘bubble’ of intensely hot gas is the aftermath of a gigantic star’s explosion, which occurred around 3,000 years ago.
XRISM has made new strides in unravelling the enigma around supermassive black holes, casting its gaze upon spiral galaxy NGC 4151, a staggering 62 million light-years from Earth, and offering us an unparalleled glimpse at the matter teetering on the edge of the galaxy’s behemoth black hole.
“These new observations provide crucial information in understanding how black holes grow by capturing surrounding matter, and offer a new insight into the life and death of massive stars. They showcase the mission’s exceptional capability in exploring the high-energy Universe,” shares ESA XRISM Project Scientist Matteo Guainazzi.
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