The Swarm
Explanation:
What do you
call a group of black
holes ... a flock, a brace, a swarm?
Monitoring a region around the
center of our Galaxy,
astronomers have indeed found
evidence for a surprisingly large number of
variable x-ray sources - likely black holes or neutron stars in
binary star systems - swarming
around the
Milky Way's
own
central supermassive black hole.
Chandra Observatory combined
x-ray image data from their monitoring
program
is shown above,
with four variable sources circled and labeled A-D.
While four
sources may not make a swarm,
these all lie
within only three light-years of the central supermassive black
hole known as
Sgr A* (the bright source just above C).
Their
detection
implies that a much larger concentration of
black hole systems is present.
Repeated gravitational interactions with other stars are
thought to cause the
black hole systems to spiral inward
toward the Galactic Center region.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
