ブラックホールの高速ガス流に関する新発見(fast gas for a black hole)

2025-09-09 イェール大学

イェール大学などの研究チームは、超大質量ブラックホールにガスが光速の15〜20%(時速約1〜1.3億マイル)で流入する「ウルトラファストインフロー」を遠方銀河ESP 39607で観測したと報告した。観測はNASAのNuSTAR X線宇宙望遠鏡により2023年と2024年に2度捉えられた。このような高速流入現象は非常に短命なため観測例は稀であり、ブラックホールが物質を取り込む「降着(accretion)」の混沌とした過程を理解する貴重な手がかりとなる。研究はイェール大学のメグ・ウリー教授らを含む国際チームによって行われ、The Astrophysical Journal に掲載された。

<関連情報>

NuSTARによるESP 39607の吸収特徴検出:超高速流入の証拠か? NuSTAR Detection of an Absorption Feature in ESP 39607: Evidence for an Ultrafast Inflow?

Alessandro Peca, Michael J. Koss, Roberto Serafinelli, Claudio Ricci, C. Megan Urry, Giulia Cerini, and Peter G. Boorman
The Astrophysical Journal  Published: 2025 August 6
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/adea4a

ブラックホールの高速ガス流に関する新発見(fast gas for a black hole)

Abstract

We report the serendipitous discovery of an absorption feature at 4.8 keV in the NuSTAR spectra of ESP 39607, a Seyfert 2 galaxy at z = 0.201, observed in 2023 May and 2024 August. The feature is detected in both observations with individual significance levels between 2σ and 3σ, computed with multiple statistical methods. The combined probability of detecting it in both observations is ≳4σ. The absorption feature is consistent with an ultrafast inflow (UFI) potentially associated with Fe xxv or Fe xxvi Kα transitions. The inferred inflow velocity is ∼0.15–0.20c, with an estimated launching radius of 22–89Rg, depending on the assumed iron transition and whether radiation pressure is accounted for. Photoionization modeling associates the UFI primarily with Fe xxv Kα absorption, blended with a minor contribution from Fe xxvi Kα. Alternative explanations, including associations with the warm-hot intergalactic medium or outflows of lighter elements, are investigated but found unlikely. If confirmed, this detection represents a rare example of a UFI, providing valuable evidence into extreme and/or nonstandard accretion processes near supermassive black holes. Follow-up observations with higher-resolution X-ray spectroscopy, such as with XMM-Newton or XRISM, will be essential to confirm the nature of this feature and better constrain the physical mechanisms driving it.

1701物理及び化学
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