波菲利翁: 现知最长的黑洞喷流

2024年10月1日

Porphyrion: The Longest Known Black Hole Jets
Animation Credit: Science Communication Lab for Martijn Oei et al., Caltech

Explanation: How far can black hole jets extend? A new record was found just recently with the discovery of a 23-million light-year long jet pair from a black hole active billions of years ago. Dubbed Porphyrion for a mythological Greek giant, the impressive jets were created by a type of black hole that does not usually create long jets — one that is busy creating radiation from infalling gas. The featured animated video depicts what it might look like to circle around this powerful black hole system. Porphyrion is shown as a fast stream of energetic particles, and the bright areas are where these particles are impacting surrounding gas. The discovery was made using data from the Keck and Mayall (DESI) optical observatories as well as LOFAR and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope. The existence of these jets demonstrates that black holes can affect not only their home galaxies but far out into the surrounding universe.

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波菲利翁: 现知最长的黑洞喷流
动画提供: Science Communication Lab for Martijn Oei et al., Caltech

说明: 黑洞喷流可以伸展多远？最近的一项发现创了新纪录：一颗活跃在数十亿年前的黑洞，产生了一道2300万光年长的喷流。这道神奇的喷流，特地以希腊神话中的巨人为名，称为波菲利翁（Porphyrion）。这道喷流起源于一般而言不会产生长喷流的黑洞，因为这类黑洞，通常忙着吸积内落的气体来产生辐射。这部主题动画影片，展示环绕这个强大黑洞系统旋转时，可能会见到的景观。其中，”波菲利翁“为快速流动的高能粒子束，亮区则是这些粒子与周围气体碰撞之处。这项发现，使用了高能粒子凯克望远镜、梅奥望远镜（DESI）、低频阵列（LOFAR）及大型米波望远镜（GMRT）的数据。此喷流的存在显示，黑洞不仅会对寄主星系造成影响，其影响也会深入周围的宇宙空间。