An Ohio University professor led a research effort with NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory that has discovered the largest explosion in space.
Department of Physics and Astronomy Associate Professor Brian McNamara, assisted by graduate student David Rafferty, was the lead author of a study that appeared in the Jan. 6 issue of Nature magazine, detailing the finding of a massive eruption caused by a spinning disc of matter outside a black hole located 2.6-billion light-years from Earth. The disc was violently ejecting plasma, creating a sonic boom and two massive cavities in space when the X-ray observatory collected the data, McNamara said.
In December of 2003, a group of scientists from across the nation, led by McNamara, were using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory to study how galaxies form and evolve. According to Michael Wise, a staff scientist with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who collaborated on the project, the discovery of the massive black hole and its peculiar behavior was serendipitous.
McNamara said he was extremely surprised when the data arrived that December.
We've known about (black holes) for some time and have been studying them
but this one was just enormous in its extent and scale McNamara said.
We had no idea something this enormous was possibly at the center of a galaxy structure. It was quite amazing to see.
Since the discovery, McNamara and his team have also developed a technique for calculating the amount of energy emitted from a black hole, which McNamara describes as accurate and unique. Black holes in space are common scientific knowledge, but this discovery changes what was previously thought of the astrophysical phenomenon, said Wise of MIT.
Most processes in science are assumed to be sort of slow gradual things
Wise said. Previously we would have said that black holes grew in a steady
continual sort of way. This black hole increased its mass by a significant fraction in a very short amount of time.
The Harvard-based Chandra X-Ray Observatory, the most sophisticated of its kind to date, has been in operation since it was deployed into space on July 23, 1999, according to www.chandra.harvard.edu.
Steve Roy, of Marshall Space Flight Center in Hunstville, Ala., said that because of the enormous success of the Chandra observatory, its mission has been extended to 10 years.
The discovery has reaped benefits for OU as well. It coincides with an ongoing effort at OU to strengthen its national and international research reputation. Last fall, the Board of Trustees approved giving the OU Astrophysical Institute, now in its ninth year, $1.4 million to fund Structure of the Universe
a project which explores everything from tiny particles in space to entire galaxies.
The discovery that McNamara headed has attracted international attention, which OU Director of Research Communication Andrea Gibson said only strengthens OU's research profile.
We have professors in the field of astronomy who are doing nationally recognized research and are respected in their field
Gibson said. We do have a good reputation in that area.
17
Archives
Matt Burns
