Milky Way's black hole gobbling asteroids | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Milky Way's black hole gobbling asteroids

ANI | By, Washington
Feb 09, 2012 03:29 PM IST

The giant black hole at the centre of the Milky Way may be vaporizing and devouring asteroids, which could explain the mysterious X-ray flares detected over a period of several years, a new study has revealed.

The giant black hole at the centre of the Milky Way may be vaporizing and devouring asteroids, which could explain the mysterious X-ray flares detected over a period of several years, a new study has revealed.



For several years NASA's Chandra has detected X-ray flares about once a day from the supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A-star, or "Sgr A-star" for short.



HT Image
HT Image
The flares last a few hours with brightness ranging from a few times to nearly one hundred times that of the black hole's regular output. The flares also have been seen in infrared data from ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile.



"People have had doubts about whether asteroids could form at all in the harsh environment near a supermassive black hole," said Kastytis Zubovas of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, and lead author of the report appearing in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.



"It's exciting because our study suggests that a huge number of them are needed to produce these flares."



Zubovas and his colleagues suggest there is a cloud around Sgr A* containing trillions of asteroids and comets, stripped from their parent stars.



Asteroids passing within about 100 million miles of the black hole, roughly the distance between the Earth and the sun would be torn into pieces by the tidal forces from the black hole.



These fragments then would be vaporized by friction as they pass through the hot, thin gas flowing onto Sgr A*, similar to a meteor heating up and glowing as it falls through Earth's atmosphere.



A flare is produced and the remains of the asteroid are swallowed eventually by the black hole.



"An asteroid's orbit can change if it ventures too close to a star or planet near Sgr A*," said co-author Sergei Nayakshin, also of the University of Leicester. "If it's thrown toward the black hole, it's doomed."

The authors estimate that it would take asteroids larger than about six miles in radius to generate the flares observed by Chandra.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Meanwhile, Sgr A* also may be consuming smaller asteroids, but these would be difficult to spot because the flares they generate would be fainter.

These results reasonably agree with models estimating of how many asteroids are likely to be in this region, assuming that the number around stars near Earth is similar to the number surrounding stars near the centre of the Milky Way.

"As a reality check, we worked out that a few trillion asteroids should have been removed by the black hole over the 10-billion-year lifetime of the galaxy," said co-author Sera Markoff of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

"Only a small fraction of the total would have been consumed, so the supply of asteroids would hardly be depleted," Markoff added.

Unveiling Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch now!

Get Current Updates on India News, Election 2024, Mukhtar Ansari Death News Live, Bihar Board 10th Result 2024 Live along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Friday, March 29, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On