In an astonishing discovery, scientists have found that winds blowing from supermassive black holes are not smooth and steady as previously thought.
Instead, these winds blast out in rapid bursts, like streams of gas “bullets,” carrying massive amounts of energy across space.
This groundbreaking finding, published in the journal Nature, offers new insights into how galaxies and their central black holes grow and change together over time.
The discovery was made by an international research team led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with contributions from Professor Christine Done of Durham University.
Professor Done is one of only two European scientists selected by the European Space Agency to participate in the Japanese and U.S. X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), which is designed to observe high-energy phenomena like these powerful black hole winds.
Scientists have long known that nearly every galaxy, including our own Milky Way, harbors a supermassive black hole at its center.
These cosmic giants are millions or even billions of times more massive than our Sun.
Over billions of years, black holes and their galaxies are believed to grow and evolve together in a process that remains one of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics.
One crucial clue to understanding this cosmic dance lies in the powerful winds that blast out from around black holes at incredibly high speeds.
These winds, known as outflows, are thought to play a major role in galaxy and black hole evolution.
Scientists believe that these powerful gusts of gas can control how much material falls into the black hole, effectively regulating its growth.
At the same time, the winds inject massive amounts of energy into their host galaxies, which could even halt the formation of new stars by heating up or sweeping away the gas clouds that would otherwise collapse into stars.
Using XRISM’s powerful spectroscopic tools, the research team observed winds traveling at astonishing speeds—between 20% and 30% of the speed of light.
For the first time, they found that these winds are not just a single stream of gas.
Instead, they are made up of at least five distinct gas components, each moving at its own unique speed.
This suggests that the winds might be firing off in bursts or funneled through gaps in the surrounding space, much like a geyser erupting intermittently. This challenges long-standing theories that assumed black hole winds were smooth and steady.
The energy carried by these gas bullets is over a thousand times more powerful than typical galactic winds, reshaping our understanding of how black holes impact their galaxies.
Thanks to XRISM’s cutting-edge technology, scientists are now able to study these gas flows in greater detail, bringing us one step closer to solving the cosmic mystery of how black holes and galaxies grow and change together.
Source: Durham University.
