New history page about black holes (part III)

The first black holes

Scientists have envisioned galaxies forming along a monolithic collapse path, in which a giant gas cloud bursts from within. Modern view is based on 'stratified appearance' in which little by little is formed over time. The rough diagram of the road takes place with relative approval.

The first ripples in the universe gathered into strands and knots, appearing locally and then taking place on a larger scale. Separate clusters of gas break up, and stars are formed. The first stars are very large, perhaps 200 times the mass of the sun or more. They contain mostly pure hydrogen - the basic component of the fusion reaction that helps the star glow.

Giant stars die early. Some exist only for 10 million years (the sun is 4.6 billion years old and is in the 'middle age'). Then a horrific explosion took place, bringing the newly trained heavier elements into the universe. A mass equivalent to so many stars could end with the outcome of just a ball no bigger than a city. The result: a delicate black hole formed. These objects are so dense that there is nothing, even light, that can escape once it is inside the suction sphere.

The suction force can weigh up to several suns but the initial versions can reach a mass of 100 times the mass of the sun.

During tens of millions, hundreds of millions of years, many stars were formed from the debris of the first stars. Concentrated gas zones combine. Stars form groups in which several dozen stars may be attracted to other star clusters. Finally, the star cluster contains thousands of stars that grow and look like and function like an object that can be considered as a sub-galaxy. Some probably contain black holes growing in the center.

Here the hypothesis of co-evolution has encountered obstacles. Intuition suggests that many simple giant black holes combine together until a central object reaches a mass large enough to control the galaxy's future shape and development. .

If this intuition is correct, which black hole holds the central position?

Roger Blandford - theoretical astrophysicist at Caltech said: 'It's a question at the right time in the right place. This may be just a coincidence. '

In fact, no one knows for sure if the first oversized black hole has to be released from a series combining dozens of masses equivalent to the solar system to become an object with 200, 1,000 and 10,000 times more mass. and so on. Or do they break down from the gas clouds. 'Do they start from 100 times the mass of the solar system or 1 million times? That is a good question. I myself think they originated in a few hundred masses, but that's just speculation, 'Blandford said.

Middle-class martial artists lurk

The formation and development of galaxies is a never-ending process, and a clue to the evolution of the first black holes that spread throughout the galaxy and in the universe. So astronomers have studied the creatures in the universe today to find the clue to the original roots.

Black holes are everywhere, millions of stars' black holes can light a galaxy .

If the greatest black holes formed from diversity then there might be evidence somewhere in the universe in the middle version.

Picture 1 of New history page about black holes (part III) Located only 300 million light-years away, the two galaxies colliding with each other with the nickname The Mice will combine into a giant galaxy. This combination can create a quasar phase during galactic evolution. (Photo: NASA / HUBBLE / STScI / H. Ford et al.)

Many astronomers convinced that they found some missing links. But in the case of medium-sized black holes, this is the most controversial issue in astronomy.

Haehnelt said: 'The existence of medium-sized black holes is one of the big answers that has no answer in this area. Recent findings are still controversial. '

In spite of this, most experts still agree that there is a medium-sized black hole, and can be transformed into maximum-developed black holes.

Collision process

Researchers on both sides agree that the size of a large black hole does not go through the initial stage of integration. Once a certain mass has been achieved, it coincides with a pre-phase phase that astronomers now see - a black hole has achieved most of its mass by swallowing gas from its surroundings.

Great combination

Galaxies combined together are just an assumption. It is believed to contribute significantly to the past development of the galaxy, such as the Milky Way. The early universe has not expanded much, but it is incredibly crowded. Like billiard balls, newly formed galaxies tend to bump.

If the two galaxies combine, so will their black holes. The computer model recently speculated that the event was very powerful, releasing the terrible light caused by the gas being bound between black holes and then rushing into the larger black hole.

Intergalactic coherence takes place over millions of years so they cannot be observed throughout the process.

An observation to our nearby galaxy has provided evidence for this event. At the heart of the galaxy NGC 6240 astronomers have found not only one but two black holes, located 3,000 light-years apart and approaching the process of integration. Chandra X-ray Observatory has shown that NGC 6240 is actually two galaxies started to be imported 30 million years ago.

Other indicators of great links come from near quasars. Richard Larson, a Yale researcher who studies star formation in the center of the galaxy, says galaxies can go through many stages of quasars in their lifetime. When studying quasars at more reasonable distances (ie not too far in the past), he observed signs of recent galactic bonds or other large-scale interactions.

"Interaction and bonding are a great way to dispose of a significant amount of gas in the center of the galaxy," explained Larson. "The first thing this temperament is doing is suddenly forming a large number of stars." Star-forming explosions exist around 10 million to 20 million years around a typical quasar.

The gas does not participate in the process of star formation falling into the black hole, this intense destruction phase is very easy to observe, because the energy turns gas and dust into glowing clouds. Finally, chaos is resolved and new stars become clear. After that, quasars were left empty. And finally, it doesn't work anymore.

Larson calculated that this scenario for black hole accretion could be applied to the most distant quasars. And it reinforces the notion that black holes actually reach their size by depositing gas.

A project called LISA (Laser Interferometry Space Antenna) will search for "gravitational waves" as a result of black hole connections, which can prove that such large collisions can occur. . NASA satellite is scheduled to launch in 2008.

Understanding of dark matter also needs to be improved. Some telescopes should have contributed to this effort, but since no one knows what that material is, predictions about solutions are speculative.

And the specific mechanics of black holes need to be fully studied. Until now, scientists still do not know exactly how matter is pushed in and swallowed up. This can be done by observing the nearby universe.

Roger Blandford, Caltech's theorist, came up with a new way to prove that early bonds are not the main contributors to black hole development. Blandford said there are two basic parameters typical for black holes. Volume is the most obvious parameter. The parameters are more subtle than the rotation.

The black hole seems to spin. This idea was transformed from the theory of observations of authenticity in May 2001, and it was not yet adopted. But if rotation is proved to be a common aspect of the black hole , then the rotational speed can be used to infer the important thing in the history of a black hole.

Blandford explains: "If the black hole grows by bonding, combining black holes, perhaps they turn down quite quickly. This becomes a debate, if you can prove that the black hole is actually spinning. fast, they can not grow by bonding, but by accreting gas ".

Most importantly, the vision needs to be expanded backwards over time, even after quintiles are being studied, said Karl Gebhardt, an astronomer at the University of Texas and a member of Richstone's research team.

Gebhardt spoke about objects observed so far: "They are the first part of the iceberg. We predict from what we observe in a number of objects to the whole. is part of the uncertainty problem ".

Hubble can expand its vision a bit, but deep-seated findings may have to wait for the James Web Space Telescope, scheduled to be launched in 2010. Advertise with the name "the light first ", JWST will be Hubble on steroids, and it will achieve better vision of the dark part of the universe.

It is ironic to think that JWST was launched, many astronomers and cosmologists will rely on black holes to illuminate the scientific knowledge of the earliest era of the universe, a dark time in which they dreamed of long ago.