An international team of astronomers has discovered a galaxy that has been reclassified due to unusual activity in its core.
The galaxy, named PBC J2333.9-2343, was previously classified as radio galaxyBut new research shows otherwise. Work remained published In Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
PBC J2333.9-2343, 660 million light-years away, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_year It is classified as a giant radio galaxy, 4 million light-years across, with a nucleus Blazar. Blazar it active galactic nucleus (AGN) with relativity flow (Airplane moving at close speed The speed of light) facing the observer. Blazars are high-energy objects that are among the most powerful phenomena in the universe. Studies have shown that in PBC J2333.9-2343, the current radically changed direction by an angle of up to 90onmoving from sky level, perpendicular to our line of sight, to directly facing us.
Blazar flow consists of charged ones Elementary particles, such as electrons or protons, that move at speeds close to the speed of light. They move in a circle around the strong magnetic field, causing the emission of radiation in the entire electromagnetic spectrum. In PBC J2333.9-2343, current is believed to originate from Giant black hole in its center or its periphery.
When the current encounters us, the emission is strongly amplified and can easily exceed the emission coming from the rest of the world. galaxies. This, in turn, leads to high-intensity bursts, more powerful than those from other radio galaxies, and thus changes their classification.
The orientation of the planes relative to us determines how the galaxy is classified. When the two jets face the plane of the sky, the galaxy is classified as a radio galaxy, but if one of the jets is pointed toward us, the galaxy’s AGN is known as a blazar. With two jets in the sky plane and one pointed toward us, PBC J2333.9-2343 has been reclassified as a Radio Galaxy with Blazar at its center.
Changes in the direction of the jets have been reported in the past, for example in X-shaped radio galaxies. This is the first observation of such a phenomenon as it does not imply that there are two different phases of jet activity from their morphology observed at radio frequencies – a change of direction appears to have occurred In the nuclear explosion itself that originated from active galactic nuclei.
To learn more about this mysterious galaxy, astronomers have had to observe it across a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum. PBC J2333.9-2343 has been observed with radio, optical, infrared, X-ray, ultraviolet, and gamma-ray telescopes. Data were obtained from German 100-meter Eifelsberg Radio Telescope At the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, a 1.3-meter optical telescope Yale Smarts University And Swift Observatory.
The team then compared the PBC properties of J2333.9-2343 with large samples of blazar and non-blazar galaxies provided by the project. ALeRCE (Automatic Learning for Rapid Classification of Events) In Chile with data from Zwicky Transit Facility (ZTF) And Asteroid Last Alert Alert System (ATLAS).
Using observational data, the team found that this galaxy has a bright ray in the center, with two lobes in the outer regions of the plane. The observed lobes are associated with the old jets and are no longer fed by emissions from the core, so these lobes are remnants of past radio activity. The active galactic nucleus (AGN) no longer leads the lobes as seen in typical radio galaxies.
The team doesn’t yet know what caused the plane’s drastic change in direction. They speculate that it could be a merger event with another galaxy or other relatively large body, or a powerful burst of activity in the galactic core after a period of quiescence.
Dr. Lorena Hernandez-García, lead author of the paper and researcher at the Millennium Astrophysics Institute, said: We started studying this galaxy because it has special properties. Our hypothesis was that the relativistic jet of its supermassive black hole had changed direction, and we had to make many observations to confirm this idea.
Add: The fact that the kernels no longer feed the lobes means that they are very old. They are remnants of past activity, while structures near the core represent younger, active currents.
Details:
Agnes Nowak
more information:
Source: RAS
Pictured: An artist’s impression of an active supermassive black hole as it shoots outward at nearly the speed of light. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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