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did you know that black holes can spin? and when they do, they can create a pulsing light show that reveals secrets about their formation and the galaxies they inhabit. let's dive into the fascinating world of spinning black holes, tidal disruption events, and x-ray emissions that shed light on these cosmic mysteries.
spinning black holes: the cosmic dancers
imagine a black hole spinning like a top, its immense gravity warping the fabric of space-time around it. this spinning motion can affect how black holes interact with their surroundings, including stars that come too close. when a star gets too close to a spinning black hole, it can be torn apart in a dramatic event known as a tidal disruption. this cosmic dance between a black hole and a star can create a burst of x-rays that reveals the black hole's rotation and the fate of the disrupted star.
the star's tidal disruption: a feast for the black hole
on november 22, 2014, the all sky automated survey for super novae (asassn) detected a burst of x-rays from the center of a galaxy 290 million light-years away. this was no ordinary supernova; it was the result of a star getting too close to a supermassive black hole with a mass millions of times that of our sun. the black hole feasted on the star, ripping it to shreds and creating an accretion disk of gas and dust that accelerated and heated up, emitting visible light, uv, and x-rays observable from earth.
x-ray revelations: the pulse of a dormant black hole
what's remarkable about this event is that it transformed a dormant or quiescent black hole into one that we can observe thanks to the matter falling in from that star. scientists trained three x-ray telescopes to observe this part of the sky for years after the event and found a strong and regular pulse of x-rays brightening and dimming every 131 seconds. this pulse revealed the black hole's rotation and shed light on the fate of the disrupted star.
the cosmic mystery unraveled
the dance between a spinning black hole and a star can create a burst of x-rays that reveals the black hole's rotation and the fate of the disrupted star. this cosmic mystery has been unraveled thanks to the observations of the asassn and the x-ray telescopes that followed. the next time you look up at the night sky, remember that the stars you see may be dancing with spinning black holes, creating a cosmic light show that reveals the secrets of the universe.
"the cosmic dance between a spinning black hole and a star can create a burst of x-rays that reveals the black hole's rotation and the fate of the disrupted star." - prof. geraint lewis
references
- the dance of galaxies: a spectacular view of cosmic mergers
- the cosmic dance: understanding spiral galaxies
acknowledgments
huge thanks to prof. geraint lewis and study author dr. dheeraj pasham for their insights and contributions to this article. special thanks to patreon supporters: donal botkin, james m nicholson, michael krugman, nathan hansen, ron neal, stan presolski, and terrance shepherd.
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