NASAのIXPEがブラックホールコロナの形状決定に貢献(NASA’s IXPE Helps Researchers Determine Shape of Black Hole Corona)

2024-10-19

2024-10-17 NASA

This illustration of material swirling around a black hole highlights a particular feature, called the “corona,” that shines brightly in X-ray light. In this depiction, the corona can be seen as a purple haze floating above the underlying accretion disk, and extending slightly inside of its inner edge. The material within the inner accretion disk is incredibly hot and would glow with a blinding blue-white light, but here has been reduced in brightness to make the corona stand out with better contrast. Its purple color is purely illustrative, standing in for the X-ray glow that would not be obvious in visible light. The warp in the disk is a realistic representation of how the black hole’s immense gravity acts like an optical lens, distorting our view of the flat disk that encircles it. NASA/Caltech-IPAC/Robert Hurt

NASAのIXPEミッションを使用した研究により、ブラックホールのコロナの形状が初めて明らかになりました。コロナはブラックホールに物質が流れ込む際に発生するプラズマ領域で、これまで理論的にしか理解されていませんでした。IXPEによるX線偏光観測により、コロナが降着円盤と同じ方向に広がっていることが判明し、ブラックホールの降着円盤とコロナの関係が解明されました。この発見はブラックホールの理解を深める重要な進展です。

＜関連情報＞

恒星と超巨大ブラックホールのX線偏光特性の比較 A Comparison of the X-Ray Polarimetric Properties of Stellar and Supermassive Black Holes

M. Lynne Saade, Philip Kaaret, Ioannis Liodakis, and Steven R. Ehlert
The Astrophysical Journal Published: 2024 October 8
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/ad73a3

Abstract

X-ray polarization provides a new way to probe accretion geometry in black hole systems. If the accretion geometry of black holes is similar regardless of mass, we should expect the same to be true of their polarization properties. We compare the polarimetric properties of all nonblazar black holes observed with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. We find that their polarization properties are very similar, particularly in the hard state, where the corona dominates. This tentatively supports the idea that stellar and supermassive black holes share a common coronal geometry.

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