The mystery has been solved: Black holes swirl space and time

Results observed by the European Aviation Agency (ESA) XMM-Newton and NASA's NuSTAR satellite show that objects with orbits near the black hole move into vibrating lines in a dense way. display - one of those lines shows the impact of black holes as a spiral of gravity.

The 30-year secret about the black hole has just been answered. The story begins in the 1980s, when astronomers discovered that large, small black holes emit blinking X-rays in a curious form. At first it flashes every few seconds apart, but the time between blinking is shortened for a few months and then finally stopped.

"Nearly periodic oscillation" (QPO) is thought to be the result of a predicted phenomenon through Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which is any object with a mass large enough, like a black hole, will swirl space, time according to its rotation. Later, scientists calculated that gravitational vortices would change the trajectory of black hole pulses, leading to QPO.

"It twists the space-time like a spoon of honey. Imagine that honey is space and when you dip a spoon into it, honey around the spoon is twisted. This means in fact not. If anything has orbit around a rotating object, its movement will be affected, " said Adam Ingram of the study at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, in a publication.

The simulated image shows that the accretion disk around the black hole has a moving interior.This phenomenon shows that matter with orbit around the black hole will be changed in motion.(Photo: ESA / ATG medialab).

Although observing the QPO's cycle shows that reality is close to the predictions of this idea, it does not have enough evidence to say with certainty - until now.

Results observed by the European Aviation Agency (ESA) XMM-Newton and NASA's NuSTAR satellite show that objects with orbits near the black hole move into vibrating lines in a dense way. display - one of those lines shows the impact of black holes as a spiral of gravity.

Both satellites observed X-rays emitted by iron atoms from the accretion disk - a flat place with a spiral shape filled with dust and gas that was about to be sucked into the black hole. The accretion disk gradually has a side that is farther away and closer to the ship is easier to access. The light emitted from the approaching spacecraft is shifted to the blue end of the spectrum, while the other side of the disk shifts red. (This is like the sound wave emitted by the ambulance of the ambulance being altered by the reception when traversing a roadside observer.)

The wavelength shift of light reveals the twisting motion of the accretion disk, which is caused by the strong gravitational force of the black hole. "We spent a lot of time trying to find evidence for this phenomenon," Ingram added.

The study was published in the May issue of the Royal Astronomical Society's newsletter.