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Supermassive black holes are changing the chemistry of galaxies

An international group of scientists has proven that supermassive black holes They influence not only the structure of galaxies, but also their chemical evolution. The study, which involves the Gran Telescopio de Canarias (Grantecan), is carried out by the Center for Astrobiology (CAB) in collaboration with the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics of Taiwan and the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC). Study reveals how the activity of the supermassive black hole at the center of a quasar changes the composition of the gas in your galaxy.

Quasar is the name given newborn galaxieswhich they analyzed is SDSS 1430+1339 and is located more than one billion light years from Earth. Discovered by a citizen science project. Galaxy Zoogot the nickname ‘Cupdue to the shape of the gas bubble, which resembles a cup of tea.

The role of quasars and supermassive black holes

Quasars – objects extremely brightcontain in their core huge black holes, the mass of which can exceed the mass of the Sun by billions of times. They form around them. gas disk which falls towards the black hole in a process that produces extreme events. Among them particle flows which travel almost at the speed of light and the so-called “superwinds“, which release gas and energy at high speed.

The team responsible for the study used data obtained through MUSE instrument of the Very Large Telescope (VLT), from the Atacama Desert, Chile. Thanks to spectroscopy vast area, scientists have created two-dimensional map the relative abundance of oxygen and nitrogen in the gas of the Teacup Galaxy. This map shows how the activity of a supermassive black hole directly affects chemical composition of gas.

CAB researcher Montserrat Villar and lead author explained that the superwind generated by a black hole is main responsible these changes. The study shows that its action affects the chemical composition of the gas as it passes through the galaxy and its impact reaches long distances.

This change in chemical composition may be due to various scenarios: The superwind can move heavy elements from the galactic core to the outer regions or cause star formation in regions far from the center of the galaxy. supernova explosions The resulting gas from the death of these young stars could also enrich the gas with new elements.

Impact beyond the galaxy

One of the highlights of this research is evidence that nuclear activity at the center of a galaxy can change the chemical composition of gas even at great distances. “It is quite possible that this process occurs beyond the galaxy itself“, emphasizes Villar. Although it is still unclear whether the chemical enrichment in the most distant regions is the result of the expulsion of elements from the core or another process, the study confirms that supermassive black holes have key role in the evolution of galaxies.

For Sara Cazzoli, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia and co-author of the study, understanding how supermassive black holes regulate the evolution of galaxies is one of the most important tasks. hottest topics modern astrophysics.

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