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This figure represents the gamma-ray light curve of Sag A* in the gamma-ray band at the 3σ confidence level over a 180-day record from June 22, 2022 to December 19, 2022. credit: arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.05875
By studying data from the low-Earth orbit Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, two astrophysicists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico have discovered that regular gamma-ray pulses emanate from around a black hole (located at the center of the Milky Way galaxy in the constellation Sagittarius). I discovered that it was. A*). Gustavo Magallanes-Gihon and Sergio Mendoza wrote a paper describing their findings. published in arXiv Preprint server.
Previous studies have shown the presence of a relatively stable supermassive black hole near the center of the Milky Way, named Sagittarius A*. Previous research has also shown that, unlike many supermassive black holes at the centers of other galaxies, Sagittarius A* does not actively attract large amounts of material and instead ejects large jets of plasma. It has also been shown that there is no such thing.
But with this new effort, the researchers discovered something else unique about the star. It’s a clump of gas orbiting about the same distance from the Sun as Mercury.
Back in 2021, scientists were able to determine that the gamma rays reaching Earth were coming from Sagittarius A*. Since then, scientists have known that such radiation does not come from the black hole itself – black holes do not emit radiation – but from something nearby. Ta. In this new effort, researchers sought to learn more about such radiation sources.
The researchers’ work involved acquiring and analyzing publicly available data captured by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope between June and December 2022. Their analysis involved processing and searching for patterns, especially those that occur periodically. In the meantime, they found one.
They discovered that pulses of gamma rays emitted by something close to Sagittarius A* reach Earth every 76.32 minutes. They say these pulses have roughly half the periodicity of X-ray flares also recorded coming from near Sagittarius A*, suggesting that the two are related. It is said to be suggesting.
The researchers suggest that both sources are likely blobs of gas orbiting Sagittarius A*, moving at nearly 30% of the speed of light. They also suggest that the blob emits light across multiple wavelengths and flares periodically as it moves.
For more information:
Gustavo Magallanes-Guijón et al., 76-minute gamma-ray period of Sagittarius A*, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.05875
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