Black Hole Delivery System Studied Using Chandra and Hubble

Space.com

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope have been used to study a cluster of stars, nicknamed “Nikhuli," that may be acting as a black hole "delivery system."  Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart

Transcript

00:00 Visit Chandra's beautiful universe.

00:05 NGC 4424.

00:10 Astronomers may have witnessed a galaxy's black hole delivery system in action.

00:15 A new study using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

00:20 and Hubble Space Telescope outlines how a large black hole

00:25 may have been delivered to the spiral galaxy NGC 4424 by another, smaller galaxy.

00:33 NGC 4424 is located about 54 million light-years from Earth in the Virgo galaxy cluster.

00:43 The main panel shows a wide field view, about 45,000 light-years wide,

00:49 of this galaxy in optical light from Hubble.

00:53 The center of this galaxy is expected to host a large black hole,

00:58 estimated to contain a mass between 60,000 and 100,000 suns.

01:03 Astronomers examining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

01:08 found an elongated object, which they determined is a cluster of stars.

01:13 They refer to this object as Nkuli,

01:16 a name relating to the Tulini festive period of celebrating and wishing for a rich harvest.

01:23 This name is taken from the Sumi language from the Indian state of Nagaland.

01:28 The Chandra data shows a point source of X-rays.

01:33 The researchers determined Nkuli is likely the center of a small galaxy

01:38 that has had most of its stars stripped away as it collides with the larger galaxy NGC 4424.

01:46 Nkuli has also been stretched out by gravitational forces

01:50 as it falls towards the center of NGC 4424, giving it an elongated shape.

01:57 Currently, Nkuli is about 1,300 light-years from the center of NGC 4424,

02:04 or about 20 times closer than the Earth is to the Milky Way's giant black hole.

02:10 After considering other possibilities,

02:13 the researchers determined that these results imply that Nkuli is likely acting as a delivery system

02:20 for NGC 4424's supply of black holes, in this case bringing along a massive one.

02:28 If the center of NGC 4424 contains a massive black hole,

02:34 Nkuli's massive black hole should end up orbiting it.

02:39 The separation of the pair should then shrink until gravitational waves are produced

02:45 and the two massive black holes merge with each other.

02:50 [Music]

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