Scientists measures temperature swings of black hole winds for first time

This artist's concept illustrates a supermassive black hole with X-ray emission emanating from its inner region (pink) and ultrafast winds (light purple lines) streaming from the surrounding disk- Credits: ESA

New Delhi: Scientists have for the first time measured rapidly varying temperatures in hot gas emanating from around a black hole.

They say the disks of matter surrounding black holes can fling out ultrafast streams of hot gas, or 'winds'.

According to new measurements of a nearby supermassive black hole obtained with NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) telescope, these ultrafast 'winds' can heat up and cool down in the span of just a few hours.

"We know that supermassive black holes affect the environment of their host galaxies, and powerful winds arising from near the black hole may be one means for them to do so," says NuSTAR Principal Investigator Fiona Harrison, professor at Caltech in Pasadena. "The rapid variability, observed for the first time, is providing clues as to how these winds form and how much energy they may carry out into the galaxy."

The black hole is located in the active galaxy IRAS 13224-3809 in the constellation Centaurus.

Scientists report their new findings in the journal Nature.