Making certain assumptions about how much energy from the gas changes into radiation, the research team would expect to find something that is more than a million times brighter when observed in X-ray wavelengths than what is seen in NGC 3115. Combining the observed properties of the gas and their own theoretical assumptions, the astronomers estimate that each year, gas weighing about 2 percent of the mass of the sun is being sucked across the Bondi radius toward the black hole.īut, there are still some mysteries yet to be uncovered.

This distance point from the black hole is known as the 'Bondi radius,' researchers said.Īccording to the researchers, Chandra's observations show that the gas close to the black hole is denser than gas further out, as was predicted. Wong is the lead author of the new study of the black hole that was published in the July 20 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.īy capturing images of the hot gas at different distances from NGC 3115's supermassive black hole, astronomers were able to detect a critical threshold where the motion of gas first becomes dominated by the black hole's gravity and begins falling inward. 'Chandra's resolving power provides a unique opportunity to understand more about how black holes capture material by studying this nearby object.'

'It's exciting to find such clear evidence for gas in the grip of a massive black hole,' Ka-Wah Wong of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, said in a statement.

A large amount of previous data has shown material falling toward and onto black holes, but until now, none displayed such a clear signature of hot gas, researchers said. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory examined the black hole at the center of a large galaxy, called NGC 3115, which is located about 32 million light-years away from Earth.

Instaling Black Hole Battle - Eat All