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
Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart
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TechTranscript
00:00 [music]
00:02 Visit Chandra's Beautiful Universe, NGC 4424.
00:10 Astronomers may have witnessed a galaxy's black hole delivery system in action.
00:16 A new study using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
00:21 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.
00:34 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.
01:04 Astronomers examining data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
01:08 found an elongated object, which they determined is a cluster of stars.
01:14 They refer to this object as Nkuli,
01:17 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
02:16 that Nkuli is likely acting as a delivery system for NGC 4424's supply of black holes,
02:24 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.
02:38 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.
02:49 [Music]