Spinning Black Hole Measured for First Time Ever
Spinning Black Hole Measured for First Time Ever
Astronomers have made the first reliable measurement of a supermassive black hole's spin, showcasing a technique that could help unravel the mysteries of these monsters' growth and evolution.
The enormous black hole at the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is spinning about 84% as fast as Einstein's general theory of relativity allows it to, researchers determined. The find demonstrates that at least some supermassive black holes are rotating rapidly — a claim previous studies had hinted at but failed to confirm.
"It's the first time that we can really say that black holes are spinning," study co-author Fiona Harrison, of Caltech in Pasadena, told SPACE.com. "The promise that this holds for being able to understand how black holes grow is, I think, the major implication."
Staring at a Black Hole in X-Ray Light
Supermassive black holes are almost incomprehensibly huge, with some containing 10 billion or more times the mass of our sun. Scientists think one lurks at the heart of most, if not all, galaxies.
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'Nearby' supermassive black hole rotates at close to the speed of light
Astronomers have calculated the speed of rotation of a massive black hole at the centre of a galaxy 60 million light years away
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 February 2013 14.25 EST
There's a new spin on supermassive black holes: They're incredibly fast, astronomers say.
It's long been suspected that gigantic black holes lurking in the heart of galaxies rotate faster and grow larger as they feast on gas, dust, stars and matter. But there hasn't been a reliable measurement of the spin rate of a black hole until now.
While black holes are difficult to detect, the region around them gives off telltale X-rays. Using Nasa's newly launched NuStar telescope and the European Space Agency's workhorse XMM-Newton, an international team observed high-energy X-rays released by a supermassive black hole in the middle of a nearby galaxy.
They calculated its spin at close to the speed of light – 670m mph (1.08bn kph).
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/feb/27/supermassive-black-hole-rotate-speed-light
