Cosmic volcano erupts from black hole after 100 million years of dormancy

A supermassive black hole in a distant galaxy cluster has begun to awaken after almost 100 million years of dormancy. The study shows that object J1007+3540 behaves like a cosmic volcano, spewing plasma into intergalactic space. This was reported on January 15 by Popular Science magazine.

According to the publication, the length of the object's jets reaches about 1 million light—years - almost 10 times the width of the Milky Way. Allegedly, black holes do not always actively absorb matter. They may remain inactive for a long time. However, their repeated "awakening" is accompanied by large-scale processes reflecting the complex interaction of the internal forces of the object and the pressure of the environment.

A group of astronomers led by Shobha Kumari from Midnapur City College in India has learned that supermassive black holes rarely emit magnetized plasma emitting in the radio range. However, according to the researchers, J1007+3540 is an exception. An analysis of data obtained using the LOFAR radio telescopes in the Netherlands and uGMRT in India showed the presence of several phases of eruptions going deep into the universe's past.

"It's like watching a space volcano erupt after years of lull — only this one is big enough to carve out structures stretching almost a million light—years into space," Kumari said.

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Radio images revealed a bright inner jet, indicating renewed activity in the center of the black hole. Around it, older, weakened and distorted plasma layers are visible, left over from previous periods of activity. Kumari called this superposition of young jets on old, "burnt—out" blades a characteristic feature of an episodic active galactic core, a system in which the central engine turns on and off throughout the cosmic epochs.

The shape and behavior of plasma emissions are allegedly influenced by the surrounding galaxy cluster. Clouds of extremely hot gas create high pressure, which compresses and bends the jets. Thus, the LOFAR data show a compressed northern lobe deflected to the side under the influence of gas, and the uGMRT observations indicate a steep radio spectrum characteristic of old and weakened plasma.

"J1007+3540 is one of the most vivid and impressive examples of the episodic interaction of active galactic nuclei with jets and galaxy clusters, where the surrounding hot gas bends, compresses and deforms the jets," said co—author of the study, astronomer Surajit Paul from the Manipal Center for Natural Sciences in India.

In the future, scientists plan to use higher-resolution instruments to study the core of J1007+3540 in more detail. According to the publication, this will help to better understand how renewed jets spread inside galaxy clusters and how often such episodes of activity occur in the universe.

The Astrophysical Journal Letters on December 29 last year reported the discovery of a rare triple merger of massive black holes. According to the study, this phenomenon was recorded for the first time using the VLA and VLBA radio telescope networks. It was clarified that these galaxies in the J1218/J1219+1035 system are in the process of gravitational interaction and show signs of active accretion of matter to supermassive black holes at their centers.

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