In a mission to find the Lost Black Hole

-By Rohan Purohit

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ of Michigan/K. Gültekin; Optical: NASA/STScI and NAOJ/Subaru; Infrared: NSF/NOAO/KPNO

Yes, you got it right; a black hole is missing from the center of the galaxy. This all started when NASA announced on its social media handles that a black hole found in the galaxy Abell 2261 is now missing completely. No telescope can found it and the situation is very concerning and mysterious.

According to astrophysicists, it is an approved fact that every large galaxy in the universe has a supermassive black hole in its center. Like the black hole in our galaxy that is Sagittarius A.

The supermassive black hole that was present in the galaxy Abell 2261 had a mass of 12 to 100 million times more than our sun. it is one of the most massive black holes ever found in the cosmos. As the mass of the galaxy tackles the mass of the black hole so the bigger the galaxy the more massive will be the black hole present in its center.

The scientist used Chandra’s data to find signs that the galaxy had a supermassive black hole as by the data obtained from 1999 to 2004.

Presently, with new, longer Chandra perceptions got in 2018, a group drove by Kayhan Gultekin from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor led a more profound quest for the black hole in the center of the galaxy. They likewise thought about an elective clarification, in which the black hole was launched out from the host galaxy’s middle. This fierce occasion may have come about because of two worlds converging to frame the observed galaxy, joined by the focal black hole in every galaxy converging to shape one colossal black hole.

At the point when black holes merge, they produce ripples in space-time called gravitational waves. If the tremendous measure of gravitational waves created by such an occasion were more grounded one way than another, the hypothesis predicts that the new, much huger black hole would have been sent lurching endlessly from the center of the galaxy the opposite way. This is known as a recoiling black hole.

Astronomers till date have not found any solid evidence of recoiling black holes. They also don’t know if this type of black hole exists in the cosmos. Recoiling after merging of two black holes up to now only have been found in small-sized black holes.

Scientist expects a merger black hole in the center of the galaxy the reason being that the space telescopes have found evidence in its core like the number of stars in its core is more than the usual number. And the second most important evidence being the densest star cluster in the galaxy is 2000 light-years away from the center of the galaxy. So this might be the area where the black hole has moved.

Nonetheless, there is no clear evidence for evidence of the black hole in the galaxy.  So even though the black hole merger has taken place both the telescopes –Hubble and Subaru have been unsuccessful to find the lurking supermassive black hole.

Also, previous observation and studies by Karl G reveal that radio emissions detected near the center of the galaxy have shown evidence of a black hole existing there 50 million years ago. But now none such thing exists there.

At last, the scientist’s only hope was Chandra’s x-ray system to locate the black hole. But the whole operation was fruitless as no x-ray signatures were detected anywhere in the galaxy.

The researchers concluded that either there is no black hole at any of these locations, or that it is pulling material in too slowly to produce a detectable X-ray signal.

The disappearance of the massive black hole, therefore, remains a mystery. The scientists still have their hopes alive for the mystery to be solved. This is because the flagship telescope the James Webb Space Telescope will be launched in the coming time. Till then the quest continues.

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