Strange 'unknown structure,' a faint radio glow thousands of light-years wide, found around closest
Strange 'unknown structure,' a faint radio glow thousands of light-years wide, found around closest quasar
By Keith Cooper published 1 day ago
The closest quasar to the Milky Way is giving up its secrets, thanks to an innovative technique developed by Japanese astronomers.
An artist's impression of a galaxy hosting a quasar and releasing a jet of particles out of the galaxy. (Image credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO))
A new technique for studying some of the brightest objects in the universe has thrown a curveball into scientists' understanding of the link between active monster black holes and the suppression of star formation.
Quasars are the ultraluminous cores of galaxies that contain extremely active supermassive black holes. A quasar's intense radiation originates from massive amounts of hot gas forming an accretion disk around the black hole's maw.
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile (ALMA), researchers targeted the quasar 3C 273. At 2.4 billion light-years from Earth, 3C 273 is the closest quasar to the Milky Way and the first quasar ever to be identified. Yet the glare of the quasar's light makes it difficult to observe the rest of its host galaxy, particularly at the radio wavelengths used by ALMA.
Seeing bright and faint features in the same camera shot requires a property known as a high dynamic imaging range. A typical digital camera has a dynamic imaging range of thousands, compared with only the low hundreds for ALMA, meaning it's difficult for ALMA to pick out faint details set against brighter features.
More:
https://www.space.com/quasar-supermassive-black-hole-radio-glow-unknown-structure
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