Astronomers of the University of Arizona (USA) for the first time measured the rotation and mass of black holes on the X-ray rays, which were emitted during the event of tidal destruction of the star J2150. It turned out that the black hole refers to black holes of the intermediate mass – rare type, which for a long time was not detected by scientists. This is reported in the article published in the Astrophysical Journal magazine.
Researchers re-analyzed X-ray data obtained by observing J2150, and compared them with theoretical models of tidal destruction events. The results showed that this outbreak arose as a result of a stars and a black hole collision, which only 10 thousand times the massive sun.
It is known that in the centers of galaxies there are supermassive black holes, whose mass reaches from one million to 10 billion of the mass of the Sun. If interstellar gas falls in their surroundings, they begin to emit powerful electromagnetic radiation that makes them noticeable for astronomers. The mass of these black holes is closely correlated with a mass of parental galaxies. At the same time, it is not known how they arise, although scientists suggest that their embryos can be black holes for intermediate mass, which are difficult to observe.
The rotation speed of the black hole, which caused the J2150, is quite high, but not the fastest. This eliminates the scenario according to which the black hole is rapidly growing due to the constant absorption of the interstellar substance. In addition, scientists eliminated the existence of a wide class of ultralight bosons that constitute dark matter and should slow down the rotation of the black hole.