Latest news with #Messier83
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Webb telescope may have just revealed a spiral galaxy's startling secret
Scientists have found an unusual neon glow near the center of the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy for the first time. This gas needs an enormous amount of energy to shine — more than normal stars can supply. The discovery, based on data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, likely means the barred spiral galaxy, sometimes called Messier 83 or M83, has been harboring an active, supermassive black hole in secret. The new research, published in The Astrophysical Journal, upends prior thinking about the galaxy. Previously, it was assumed that if there were a hole in its heart, it would be dormant and certainly not shooting out high-energy radiation. "Before Webb, we simply did not have the tools to detect such faint and highly ionized gas signatures in M83's nucleus," said Svea Hernandez, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, in a statement. "We are finally able to explore these hidden depths of the galaxy and uncover what was once invisible." SEE ALSO: These scientists think alien life best explains what Webb just found Dust and gas obscure the view to extremely distant and inherently dim light sources, but infrared waves can pierce through the clouds. Credit: NASA GSFC / CIL / Adriana Manrique Gutierrez illustration Black holes are some of the most inscrutable phenomena in outer space. About 50 years ago, they were little more than a theory — a kooky mathematical answer to a physics problem. Even astronomers at the top of their field weren't entirely convinced they existed. Today, not only are black holes accepted science, they're getting their pictures taken by a collection of enormous, synced-up radio dishes on Earth. Unlike a planet or star, black holes don't have surfaces. Instead, they have a boundary called an "event horizon," or a point of no return. If anything swoops too close, it will fall in, never to escape the hole's gravitational clutch. The most common kind, called a stellar black hole, is thought to be the result of an enormous star dying in a supernova explosion. The star's material then collapses onto itself, condensing into a relatively tiny area. But how supermassive black holes, millions to billions of times more massive than the sun, form is even more elusive than typical stellar black holes. Many astrophysicists and cosmologists believe these invisible giants lurk at the center of virtually all galaxies. Recent Hubble Space Telescope observations have bolstered the theory that supermassive black holes begin in the dusty cores of starburst galaxies, where new stars are rapidly assembled, but scientists are still teasing it out. The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy — about 15 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra — is one such starburst galaxy. It has baffled scientists for decades as they struggled fruitlessly to find signs of a black hole at its center. Webb, a collaboration with the European and Canadian space agencies, was mainly designed to study the early universe, star formation, and distant galaxies. But its extreme sensitivity to infrared light, invisible to peoples' eyes, gave it the power to find clues that other telescopes couldn't, said Linda Smith, a co-author on the paper. Infrared light can shine through dust, which often blocks other forms of light. This gives Webb an advantage in studying cloudy areas where stars are forming or giant black holes might be active. Though the detected signals strongly suggest the presence of a black hole, the team is considering other possible sources, such as powerful shock waves moving through space or inordinately massive stars. The researchers plan to follow up their observations with other telescopes to look at the galaxy in different ways. "Now we have fresh evidence that challenges past assumptions," Smith said.
Newsweek
25-04-2025
- Science
- Newsweek
Webb Telescope Reveals Hidden Supermassive Black Hole in Nearby Galaxy
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. An elusive supermassive blackhole has been discovered in a nearby galaxy that's millions of light-years away from Earth. A supermassive blackhole—one measuring millions or billions of times the mass of the Sun—was found at the center of a nearby spiral galaxy known as Messier 83 (M83) by the James Webb Space Telescope, a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. The findings, published in The Astrophysical Journal, reveal evidence of highly ionized neon gas, which could be a telltale sign of an active galactic nucleus (AGN), the bright, compact central portion of a galaxy. Also known as the Southern Pinwheel, M83 is 15 million light-years away from Earth and was discovered back in 1752. "With an apparent magnitude of 7.5, M83 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies in the night sky," NASA notes, and it can most easily be observed in June using a pair of binoculars. A close-up view of a barred spiral galaxy. A close-up view of a barred spiral galaxy. ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Adamo Stockholm University and the FEAST JWST team For decades, astronomers have been unable to confirm the presense of an AGN in M83, with previous research suggesting that should a supermassive black hole exist there, it must be dormant or hidden behind thick dust. "Our discovery of highly ionized neon emission in the nucleus of M83 was unexpected," said paper lead Svea Hernandez, an astronomer for the European Space Agency at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, U.S., in a statement. "These signatures require large amounts of energy to be produced—more than what normal stars can generate. This strongly suggests the presence of an AGN that has been elusive until now," Hernandez noted. Linda Smith from the Space Telescope Science Institute, a co-author of the study, added that the latest discovery marks the first-ever "compelling clue" that a black hole may be present in M83. She added: "Astronomers thought they had ruled out an AGN in M83, but now we have fresh evidence that challenges past assumptions and opens new avenues for exploration." The team behind the latest discovery plan to conduct more studies from other observatories, such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Very Large Telescope (VLT), to further explore the nature of the gas and confirm the presence of a supermassive black hole in M83. These observations will help ascertain whether the newly detected emission in M83 originates from an AGN or other high-energy processes. Last month, scientists were also surprised to discover oxygen in the most distant galaxy ever found. The record discovery, made via ALMA, suggested that early galaxies formed more rapidly than previously thought. Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about black holes or galaxies? Let us know via science@ Reference Svea Hernandez, Linda J. Smith, Logan H. Jones, Aditya Togi, Marcio B. Meléndez, Valentina Abril-Melgarejo, Angela Adamo, Almudena Alonso Herrero, Tanio Díaz-Santos, Travis C. Fischer, Santiago García-Burillo, Alec S. Hirschauer, Leslie K. Hunt, Bethan James, Vianney Lebouteiller, Knox S. Long, Matilde Mingozzi, Lise Ramambason, and Cristina Ramos Almeida (2025). JWST/MIRI Detection of [Ne v] and [Ne vi] in M83: evidence for the long sought-after active galactic nucleus? The Astrophysical Journal. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/adba5d
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Has the James Webb Space Telescope discovered a 'missing' supermassive black hole? (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Scientists have long believed that monster-sized supermassive black holes lurk at the heart of all large galaxies. That means that the failure to detect such a cosmic titan at the heart of the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, officially known as Messier 83 (M83), has been a frustrating conundrum. Now, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers may have cracked this puzzle, finding the first evidence of a supermassive black hole at the heart of M83, also known as NGC 5236, a spiral galaxy located around 15 million light-years away. "The JWST is revolutionizing our understanding of galaxies," team member Linda Smith of the Space Telescope Science Institute said in a statement. "For years, astronomers have searched for a black hole in M83 without success. Now, we finally have a compelling clue that suggests one may be present." Supermassive black holes have masses millions or even billions of times that of the sun. Situated at the hearts of distant galaxies, these black holes are pretty conspicuous when they are actively feeding and surrounded by gas and dust that they heat, causing them to glow brightly. These regions, known as "active galactic nuclei" or "AGNs," can often be seen even in galaxies that are otherwise too distant and too faint to be detected. This has led scientists to speculate that either the supermassive black hole at the heart of M83 is dormant (not actively feeding on matter), or that the AGN it powers is hidden by a thick shroud of dust. That second explanation is favored by new data from the JWST which takes full advantage of the $10 billion space telescope's unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution. Clumps of highly ionized gas were the "smoking gun" hinting at the presence of an obscured AGN at the heart of M83. "Our discovery of highly ionized neon emission in the nucleus of M83 was unexpected," team leader Svea Hernandez, a European Space Agency (ESA) scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, said. "These signatures require large amounts of energy to be produced, more than what normal stars can generate. "This strongly suggests the presence of an AGN that has been elusive until now." Even the explosive death of massive stars in supernovas couldn't provide enough energy to create the signature spotted by the JWST. That makes an AGN the most likely suspect. But, not the only suspect. The team behind this discovery now needs to eliminate other possible candidates for the creation of highly ionized neon gas, such as shockwaves travelling through the gases that exists between stars, the "interstellar medium." Related Stories: — Is our universe trapped inside a black hole? This James Webb Space Telescope discovery might blow your mind —NASA spacecraft spots monster black hole bursting with X-rays 'releasing a hundred times more energy than we have seen elsewhere' — What would happen if the Milky Way's black hole erupted? This distant galaxy paints a terrifying picture Astronomers will now follow up the investigation of M83 with the Hubble Space Telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), and the Very Large Telescope (VLT). In the meantime, this research proves how effective the JWST is at discovering hitherto unseen structures in the cosmos. "This discovery showcases how the JWST is making unexpected breakthroughs," Smith concluded, "Astronomers thought they had ruled out an AGN in M83, but now we have fresh evidence that challenges past assumptions and opens new avenues for exploration." The team's research was published on Thursday (April 17) in The Astrophysical Journal.
