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African Observatory Reveals Collapsed Star's Jets as Source of Galaxy's Speediest Particles

2024-01-28

An array of telescopes in Namibia has uncovered the source of some of the most energetic particles in the cosmos, making a momentous discovery in the vast, starry expanse of our galaxy. This discovery, which revolves on the mysterious Manatee Nebula, is a major step forward in our long-running effort to understand cosmic rays and is a tribute to the insatiable human need to know. In this cosmic mystery, where the dance of fast particles and black holes blends with reality, let's go in.

Envision a light rain falling gently on Earth, but instead of water drops, you see space dust and solar particles. Every day, our world is bombarded by cosmic rays, which are not something out of a science fiction movie. These extraterrestrial guests arrive as a spectrum of energy, not as singular creatures. Some are harmless Solar System visitors, whirling about in Earth's magnetic field; others are supernova remnants from the catastrophic collapse of huge stars.

The story becomes more complicated, however, when we think about the galactic nomads with the greatest amount of energy. Supermassive black holes, or quasars, are the universe's built-in particle accelerators, spewing plasma jets at speeds close to the speed of light. These particles originate in space, far beyond our galaxy. Our most sophisticated particle accelerators would be embarrassed by the comparatively weak power of these cosmic rays.

Microquasars, our story's heroes, have arrived. These celestial bodies are less massive than the massive quasars, yet they are just as powerful and may add a lot to the cosmic ray population. Microquasar SS 433 in the Aquila Constellation, inside the Manatee Nebula, is the main attraction, and it's 18,000 light-years distant. The stellar material feeds the black hole, which in turn produces breathtaking bursts of high-energy particles; this cosmic dance is a binary system consisting of a big star and a black hole.

A cosmic laboratory, the Manatee Nebula gets its name from the gentle marine creature it resembles with its elongated form. A star's catastrophic demise gave rise to the black hole at the story's core, and this nebula, itself a product of a supernova, now holds the star's remains. The black hole's jets, which were reignited between 10,000 and 30,000 years ago, have become an important piece of evidence for the origin of cosmic rays, and they originate in this celestial nursery.

The breakthrough occurred when the energetic particle genesis location inside the nebula was located by the sharp-eyed telescopes of the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) in Namibia. Cosmic rays' winding galactic pathways obscured their source, making this an uphill battle. The cosmic ray processes' messengers, gamma rays, however, deceive their origins by traveling in straight lines. The most energetic photons are emitted from regions around the black hole, whereas the core of the gamma-ray production is located halfway between the black hole and the supernova remnants, according to HESS's measurements, a painstaking endeavor that extended over 200 hours and three years.

Not only does this find provide theoretical astrophysicists and cosmic ray researchers all across the globe something to cheer about, but it also gives the astronomers at HESS a little boost. Insights into the processes operating in these cosmic accelerators are greatly enhanced by the suggestion that the mechanisms driving these gamma rays and, by extension, the cosmic rays, are located inside the black hole's jets.

This finding has far-reaching ramifications, confirming that X-ray binaries, such as the one in the Manatee Nebula, are not only miniature supermassive black holes but also capable of boosting cosmic ray energy to unprecedented levels. This discovery does double duty: it deepens our knowledge of where cosmic rays come from and also paves the way for future investigations into the basic mechanisms that drive high-energy astrophysical events.

Now that we are on the verge of this cosmic border, the cosmos seems both less mysterious and more exciting than before. The vastness of the cosmos and the insatiable want for knowledge are both highlighted by the finding in the Manatee Nebula. In doing so, it invites us to gaze up at the stars with more than awe; it wants us to better comprehend the cosmic ballet of energy and matter unfolding throughout the universe.

To paraphrase Carl Sagan, "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." As a cosmic jigsaw piece in the vast tapestry of the cosmos, the Manatee Nebula and its high-speed particle jets attest to this eternal pursuit of knowledge. And the more we learn about these enigmas, the closer we go to comprehending the universe and our role in it.

Reference:

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00223-4



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