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It had previously been believed that black holes at the center of galaxies grow in tandem with the star clusters around them-as a galaxy expands, the black hole will grow as well, feeding on the matter and information that it absorbs. Thus far, every supermassive black hole we've found has existed within an appropriately sized galaxy-the bigger the black hole, the bigger the galaxy around it.
As it turns out, this isn't always the case. The WISE1029+0501 is a modestly sized galaxy which, based on previous assumptions, should play host to a small-ish black hole. Not so; the supermassive black hole at its center is instead far larger than the galaxy ought to be able to support.
According to Tohru Nagao, Professor at Ehime University, this new information is a big deal that changes the way we view black holes:
We astronomers do not understand the real relation between the activity of supermassive black holes and star formation in galaxies. Therefore, many astronomers including us are eager to observe the real scene of the interaction between the nuclear outflow and the star-forming activities, for revealing the mystery of the co-evolution.
This new discovery was made by cataloging the amount of carbon monoxide that was floating around the WISE1029+0501 using the ALMA radio telescope. Carbon monoxide is present at the formation of stars, and the levels of the gas that are found in a particular galaxy helps to determine how large the galaxy is, and how quickly it's expanding.
WISE1029+0501 doesn't have a lot of carbon monoxide, and certainly doesn't have enough to justify the size of the black hole at its center.
This kind of thing has been happening a lot lately, and it's very exciting. Our understanding of black holes, as well as many other large celestial events, has been shaped by a very small pool of knowledge, alongside a lot of theorizing and, let's face it, rampant speculation.
When we discover an anomaly that doesn't match up with the rest of our data thus far, it's an indicator that there's more going on than we'd previously realized. Our ability to observe the universe has grown tremendously over the past few years, which is why we're bumping into knowledge gaps this often. Essentially, we're now finally beginning to realize just how ignorant we are, which is a natural first step to being able to correcting course and figuring out what's really going on with black holes.
Now, scientists will have to reconsider the cause of growth in black holes. If these gravity drains don't grow in size relative to the amount of food that they're consuming, there must be something else that's triggering their development.
Whatever the secret might be, it's going to be very interesting as scientists try to figure out what's going on.
Reader Comments
"Essentially, we're now finally beginning to realize just how ignorant we are, which is a natural first step to being able to correcting course and figuring out what's really going on..."
and:
"When we discover an anomaly that doesn't match up with the rest of our data thus far, it's an indicator that there's more going on than we'd previously realized."
Sometimes, IF you have a sufficiently large body of triple-verified (I just made that term up) knowledge about a subject, a shocking new discovery can be dealt with by some (relatively small) amount of recalibration of your ideas.
However, sometimes the ONLY thing you can do is back up, check all your basic assumptions at the door and try really, really hard to observe things without preconceptions. This applies to ALL fields, especially the 'sacred' ones like physics.
Probably, the single largest obstacle to anyone really starting again from the beginning is human hubris, followed immediately by the impulse to throw good money after bad, because ...muh career. Hubris is a kissing cousin to stupid and there's no fixing either one of them; there are only grisly endings ahead for people with those diseases.
Hmmm... maybe we could start a go fund me for those idiots
I can't see them backing up any time soon - its far easier, comfortable to just come up with a new factor, new layers of theories or corrections to previous calculations
R.C.
*And/or, now obligatory "it".
RC
Knowledge is power. Ultimate knowledge and thus ultimate power are reserved only for the elite in order to rule over the rest of us.
If only they could do something useful / provable like develop an artificial kidney ... power is also faking a lot of knowledge which cannot be questioned by the little people
You can safely say that everything mainstream and establishment is the opposite of truth, and is thus for purposes of control over the masses.
Interesting you should say that ... all the official "photos" of black holes appear to have massive streams ejecting at 90% to the plane (galaxies and black holes are planar)
Conclusion: These guys don't know (and don't want to know) what they are talking about. They're just looking for more grant money. Hmm...?