The Sun is surrounded by an atmosphere of blood plasma that we call the Saint Ulmo’s light . It is nearly 1 million degree Celsius ( 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit ) of hot blood plasma stretching far into the Solar System . fatal holes also have a corposant , but stargazer have struggled to whole read its shape and how it relates to the accretion disk of material that surrounds actively feeding fatal holes – until now .
Black jam Saint Elmo’s light are billions of degree raging , which makes them a hatful more difficult to study in item . Using NASA ’s IXPE ( Imaging X - ray Polarimetry Explorer ) , researchers were able to take the coronae of 12 mordant hole , some stellar - sized and others supermassive . They line up that the Saint Ulmo’s light and the accretion disc extend in the same focus .
“ scientist have long speculate on the makeup and geometry of the corona discharge , ” lead author Dr Lynnie Saade , from the Universities Space Research Association , working at NASA ’s Marshall Space Flight Center , said in astatement . “ Is it a orbit above and below the calamitous hole , or an atmosphere father by the accretion disk , or perhaps plasm locate at the cornerstone of the jets ? ”
The idea that the corona is a lamppost hovering over the accretion disk is dominate out , but the shape is not the only exciting finding of this study .
The research worker also showed that no matter the size of it , from the small ace to thesupermassive , black holes suck in matter the same room . This means that by studying little , tight - by black hole , we can get word about the supermassive ones that subsist in the heart of galaxies zillion of light - years away .
“ Stellar - mass black holes rend mass from their companion whiz , whereas supermassive black kettle of fish pig everything around them , ” added Philip Kaare , the master investigator for the IXPE mission , also at Marshall . “ Yet the accumulation mechanism function much the same fashion . ”
“ IXPE has provided the first opportunity in a long time for X - ray astronomy to expose the underlying processes of accretion and unlock new findings about black hole , ” Saade tot .
It is X - ray polarization that IXPE can blob . Light is polarise when its moving ridge are forced to oscillate on a specific plane . charismatic fields and other interaction present around pitch-dark holes can polarize light and the lookout practice this polarization to represent the shape and complex body part environ theblack holes .
The study is published inThe Astrophysical Journal .
chastisement : An earlier variant of this clause wrongly stated Dr Lynnie Saade as from NASA ’s Marshall Space Flight Center . It has been update to clear up that Dr Saade is from the Universities Space Research Association , working at NASA ’s Marshall Space Flight Center .
