时间:2024-11-24 10:06:36 来源:网络整理编辑:知識
Right now, in the center of our galaxy, an enormous black hole is stretching an object apart like it
Right now, in the center of our galaxy, an enormous black hole is stretching an object apart like it were taffy.
And scientists currently have a rare view, and images, of this extreme cosmic event playing out.
A thick cloud of gas and dust dubbed "X7" is rapidly approaching the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. Black holes harbor almost unimaginable gravity due to their extremely concentrated mass (if Earth were crushed into a black hole, it would be under an inch across), and astronomers have now watched X7 changing for two decades as it veers closer to its last years. The latest observations, published in The Astrophysical Journal, reveal that X7 has been stretched trillions of miles. It's now 3,000 astronomical units in length. An astronomical unit is 93 million miles, or the distance between the sun and Earth.
X7 doesn't have much time left. The black hole's gravitational power is relentless.
"In the near future, it will pull X7 apart," Anna Ciurlo, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the lead author of the research, told Mashable. "We're lucky to observe it now."
SEE ALSO:Black holes aren't evil cosmic vacuum cleaners, and other misconceptionsX7's immense stretching demonstrates the cosmic influence of a black hole. The leading edge of the cloud is subject to more gravitational tugging than the tail, resulting in the long stretch. By 2036, X7 will swing to its closest point around Sagittarius A*, and soon after, dissolve. Then, the remnants will spiral around the black hole, heating up and releasing energy into space. Some of this matter will inevitably fall into the black hole, never to escape. (Once an object passes a boundary on a black hole called the "event horizon," there's no way for anything to conceivably escape — that would mean moving faster than the speed of light.)
"In the near, future it will pull X7 apart."
In the first graphic below, you can see X7 being progressively stretched between 2002 and 2021. Astronomers made the observations using the W. M. Keck Observatory atop Hawaii's towering Mauna Kea, which is home to two of the largest telescopes in the world, at 10 meters, or nearly 33 feet, across.
Below this graphic is an animation illustrating how X7 is being pulled apart and then destroyed as it approaches the supermassive black hole.
The object X7 progressively stretched by the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*.Credit: A. Ciurlo et al. / UCLA GCOI / W. M. Keck ObservatoryTweet may have been deleted
It's enormously difficult to observe an object like X7 traversing the center of our galaxy. The galactic center is packed with stars, gas, and dust, which obscures much activity. Yet Ciurlo and her team have been able to track X7 for four reasons:
The telescope's size: A larger telescope means finer resolution and more detail, especially in objects many light-years away. The W. M. Keck Observatory, as noted above, is home to two of the largest telescopes on Earth.
Infrared viewing: The type of light we can see, called visible light, is difficult to see at the galaxy's center. "When we observe the galactic center, we are looking through a lot of dust," Ciurlo explained. "It obscures visible light." For this reason, the astronomers used instruments that view a type of light that we can't see, called infrared light, which travels in longer wavelengths than visible light and slips through dense clouds of dust and gas.
Adaptive optics: The Keck telescopes use a powerful technology, called adaptive optics, which removes distortions that inevitably occur when looking through Earth's turbulent atmosphere.
Repeated observations:Diligently observing the galactic center allowed astronomers to track the changes and details in X7 as it travels closer to the black hole.
A looming question is where X7, a cloud of gas and dust, originated. The researchers have two ideas:
It's possible X7 could have broken off from a larger gaseous structure, and its trajectory sent it toward Sagittarius A*.
Alternatively, X7 could have been ejected into space during a close encounter between two stars. The stars could have made a near pass, or even merged. When this happens, gas is ejected into space, which could have formed X7. (Unlike the sun, most stars exist in pairs with another star relatively nearby.)
Astronomers like Ciurlo will continue watching X7 as it traverses the galactic center and enters its final cosmic years. It's an extraordinary opportunity to view a violent event unfolding in deep space, near our galaxy's supermassive black hole.
"It's a lot of fun to see in real time," Ciurlo marveled.
(This story has been updated with more information about the object X7 and its interaction with the black hole Sagittarius A*.)
Tributes flow after death of former Singapore president S.R. Nathan2024-11-24 09:59
iFan平台攜手韓國大勢男團WINNER 成功舉辦線上粉絲見麵會2024-11-24 09:58
每一份熱愛都全力以赴,祝緒丹在熱愛的世界裏閃閃發光2024-11-24 09:57
話題總閱讀超190億爆款大劇《愛情公寓5》收官 優質內容賦能品牌實現持續有效增長2024-11-24 09:20
This coloring book is here for all your relationship goals2024-11-24 09:09
吳氏青衣 中華之光 百花齊放 情和四方2024-11-24 08:41
“DOULive超級星播夜”香蕉娛樂專場亮相,強東玥動情談音樂夢想2024-11-24 08:25
宋威龍鼓勵醫護人員 用文字傳遞正能量2024-11-24 08:13
Tributes flow after death of former Singapore president S.R. Nathan2024-11-24 08:12
每一份熱愛都全力以赴,祝緒丹在熱愛的世界裏閃閃發光2024-11-24 08:07
Satisfy your Olympics withdrawals with Nike's latest app2024-11-24 10:04
阿迪達斯與天貓開啟“天貓超級品牌日” ,共同紀念經典鞋款 Superstar 誕生50周年2024-11-24 10:02
甜美主播阿喵抖音直播間開播,深情演唱《七友》,引粉絲暴風點讚2024-11-24 09:54
正大玉膳坊聯手《我們的樂隊》 ,打造燃爆樂隊現場2024-11-24 09:22
The U.S. will no longer have the final say on internet domain names2024-11-24 09:19
電影《藍月》3月18日騰訊視頻首播 打造原創IP 堅定文化自信2024-11-24 09:15
實力舞台今晚放送 !又甜又A的戴燕妮等你來助力!2024-11-24 08:59
“神仙”合唱!《經典詠流傳》王珮瑜攜手廖昌永演繹三國情懷2024-11-24 08:23
Carlos Beltran made a very interesting hair choice2024-11-24 08:18
【波盈足球】 世足梅西回春腳步戲耍克羅埃西亞鐵衛 英媒大讚「真是個天才」 ( 迪奧,梅西 )2024-11-24 07:43