ASTRONOMERS have discovered supermassive Death Star black holes unleashing powerful plasma beams that eerily change direction.
The finds are reminiscent of the fictional space station in Star Wars, potentially reshaping our understanding of cosmic phenomena.
The Chandra X-ray Observatory announced the findings on Wednesday in a release.
An international research team studied 16 galaxies using data from Nasa’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Very Long Baseline Array.
Astronomers have observed that jets of plasma from supermassive black holes can change direction over short time scales.
These jets are caused by material channeled by magnetic fields towards the black hole’s poles and then streamed back into space.
The jets are important for star formation, making their study crucial.
“We found that about a third of the beams are now pointing in completely different directions than before,” Astrophysicist Francesco Ubertosi from the University of Bologna in Italy said in the release.
“These Death Star black holes are swiveling around and pointing at new targets, like the fictional space station in Star Wars.”
CHANGING DIRECTION
They compared current jet directions using radio wave data with past directions from cavities in surrounding hot gas.
About a third of the jets have significantly changed direction – by 45 degrees or more – within 10 million years or less.
Some jets showed changes up to 90 degrees, with the fastest changes occurring in around 1 million years.
Given the age of these black holes at over 10 billion years old, changes within a few million years are considered rapid.
Team member and Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian scientist Gerrit Schellenberger noted how millions of years are short when it comes to black holes.
“Considering that these black holes are likely more than 10 billion years old, we consider a large change in direction over a few million years to be fast,” Schellenberger said.
“Changing the direction of the giant black hole beams in about a million years is analogous to changing the direction of a new battleship in a few minutes.”
STAR DISRUPTION
These jet changes impact the formation of stars in their surrounding galaxies by preventing gas from running into each other.
They could potentially be causing damage to nearby stars and planets but the astronomers are unsure currently.
However, the astronomers are sure the black hole jets are stopping star formation in its tracks.
“These galaxies are too distant to tell if the beams from the Death Star black holes are damaging stars and their planets,” said co-author Ewan O’Sullivan from Harvard Astrophysics.
“But we are confident they are preventing many stars and planets from forming in the first place.”
The exact cause of the jet redirectioning is unclear, though it may involve material falling towards the black holes at different angles.
Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms behind these directional changes.
Dr. Thomas Hughes is a UK-based scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to readers. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
