CALIFORNIA, iNews.id – Astronomers observe black hole which is unusually surrounded by a very large ring of X-rays. Using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, researchers have investigated how this strange phenomenon occurs.
The black hole is part of a binary system called V404 Cygni. That is, the black hole has a companion star that sucks the material, as quoted from Digital Trends.
When the black hole’s gravity pulls gas from the star and eats it up, the material forms a disk around the black hole. This disc glows in X-ray wavelengths. That is, the system is of a type called binary X-rays.
But, this particular system not only has a disk of materia, it does something special too, emitting periodic bursts of X-rays. These bursts bounce off the dust cloud lying between them and Earth, creating rings called light echoes, in a similar way to how sound waves bounce off a wall.
To study this phenomenon, the researchers collected data in X-rays and visible light wavelengths, combining the two into an image.
It shows a series of concentric rings, with some gaps due to the boundaries of Chandra’s field of view. In total, eight separate rings were observed.
This discovery is not only exciting because it can tell about these black holes. The discoveries could also tell scientists about the dust clouds involved, and about the space between V404 Cygni and Earth.
Editor: Dini Listiyani
