Editorial, CNBC Indonesia
Tech
Friday, 19/01/2024 19:00 WIB
Foto: dok University of Cambridge
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Researchers discovered the oldest black star which is thought to have existed since the beginning of the universe. The black star devoured the galaxy around it.
An international team led by the University of Cambridge using the James Webb Space Telescope detected a black hole that is estimated to have existed for 400 million years after big bang. The big bang is a huge explosion that created the universe, which is estimated to have occurred 13 billion years ago.
According to Robert Maiolino, lead author of the research report published in Nature, the discovery of the black star is a big leap.
The fact that black holes are millions of times the mass of the Sun has changed the assumptions about the formation and growth of black holes that astronomers have previously believed in.
Astronomers previously thought that supersized black holes (supermassive black hole) found in the center of galaxies take billions of years to grow into giants.
However, the size of the black hole newly discovered with the James Webb Telescope is thought to grow in a different way. It is possible that this black star has been “large since birth” and is swallowing up surrounding mass five times faster.
Astronomers have long believed that supermassive black holes are formed from the bodies of stars that die and collapse into black stars with masses hundreds of times the Sun. If we follow this model, the newly discovered black star should have formed over billions of years.
The problem is, the universe was not yet billions of years old when the new black hole was detected.
“Black holes of this size were discovered very early in the history of the universe, so we have to consider different formation processes. Galaxies in their earliest stages of formation were so rich in gas, this may have been like a ‘buffet’ for black holes.” said Maiolino as quoted from the official website of the University of Cambridge.
Black holes grow by swallowing surrounding galaxies. This means that this newly discovered black hole is very hungry.
The galaxy where this black hole was discovered is named GN-z11. GN-z11 glows very brightly because of the energy produced by the black hole at its center.
Astronomers detect black holes from this energy because black holes, which swallow light, cannot be directly observed. Black holes are detected from disks that form at their edges. The gas in the disk becomes very hot and emits radiation of energy equivalent to ultraviolet, which is observed by astronomers.
GN-z11 is a small galaxy. Its size is only one hundredth of the Milky Way galaxy. Its size is thought to be small because of the black hole.
When a black hole swallows too much gas, the gas is pushed out and creates very strong winds. This “wind” stops star formation, little by little killing the surrounding galaxies. Ironically, galaxies are the “food” that form black holes.
“This is a new era, a huge leap in sensitivity [perangkat], especially infrared. Like upgrading from Galileo’s telescope to a modern telescope just overnight. Before the James Webb telescope, I thought space beyond the reach of the Hubble Space Telescope was not that interesting. However, it turned out to be wrong.”
Maiolino said the sensitivity of the James Webb telescope means older black stars could be discovered in the next few years.
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2024-01-19 12:00:00
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