NASA’s Hubble, Chandra Spot Rare Type of Black Hole Eating a Star - UNIVERSE

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory team up to identify a possible intermediate-mass black hole.

Credits: NASA, ESA, CXC, Yi-Chi Chang (National Tsing Hua University); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory have teamed up to identify a new possible example of a rare class of black holes. Called NGC 6099 HLX-1, this bright X-ray source seems to reside in a compact star cluster in a giant elliptical galaxy.

Just a few years after its 1990 launch, Hubble discovered that galaxies throughout the universe can contain supermassive black holes at their centers weighing millions or billions of times the mass of our Sun. In addition, galaxies also contain as many as millions of small black holes weighing less than 100 times the mass of the Sun. These form when massive stars reach the end of their lives.

Far more elusive are intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs), weighing between a few hundred to a few 100,000 times the mass of our Sun. This not-too-big, not-too-small category of black holes is often invisible to us because IMBHs don’t gobble as much gas and stars as the supermassive ones, which would emit powerful radiation. They have to be caught in the act of foraging in order to be found. When they occasionally devour a hapless bypassing star — in what astronomers call a tidal disruption event— they pour out a gusher of radiation.

The newest probable IMBH, caught snacking in telescope data, is located on the galaxy NGC 6099’s outskirts at approximately 40,000 light-years from the galaxy’s center, as described in a new study in the Astrophysical Journal. The galaxy is located about 450 million light-years away in the constellation Hercules. 

A Hubble Space Telescope image of a pair of galaxies: NGC 6099 (lower left) and NGC 6098 (upper right). The purple blob depicts X-ray emission from a compact star cluster. The X-rays are produced by an intermediate-mass black hole tearing apart a star.

Science: NASA, ESA, CXC, Yi-Chi Chang (National Tsing Hua University); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Astronomers first saw an unusual source of X-rays in an image taken by Chandra in 2009. They then followed its evolution with ESA’s XMM-Newton space observatory.

“X-ray sources with such extreme luminosity are rare outside galaxy nuclei and can serve as a key probe for identifying elusive IMBHs. They represent a crucial missing link in black hole evolution between stellar mass and supermassive black holes,” said lead author Yi-Chi Chang of the National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.

X-ray emission coming from NGC 6099 HLX-1 has a temperature of 3 million degrees, consistent with a tidal disruption event. Hubble found evidence for a small cluster of stars around the black hole. This cluster would give the black hole a lot to feast on, because the stars are so closely crammed together that they are just a few light-months apart (about 500 billion miles).

The suspected IMBH reached maximum brightness in 2012 and then continued declining to 2023. The optical and X-ray observations over the period do not overlap, so this complicates the interpretation. The black hole may have ripped apart a captured star, creating a plasma disk that displays variability, or it may have formed a disk that flickers as gas plummets toward the black hole.

“If the IMBH is eating a star, how long does it take to swallow the star’s gas? In 2009, HLX-1 was fairly bright. Then in 2012, it was about 100 times brighter. And then it went down again,” said study co-author Roberto Soria of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). “So now we need to wait and see if it’s flaring multiple times, or there was a beginning, there was peak, and now it’s just going to go down all the way until it disappears.”

The IMBH is on the outskirts of the host galaxy, NGC 6099, about 40,000 light-years from the galaxy’s center. There is presumably a supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s core, which is currently quiescent and not devouring a star.

Black Hole Building Blocks

The team emphasizes that doing a survey of IMBHs can reveal how the larger supermassive black holes form in the first place. There are two alternative theories. One is that IMBHs are the seeds for building up even larger black holes by coalescing together, since big galaxies grow by taking in smaller galaxies. The black hole in the middle of a galaxy grows as well during these mergers. Hubble observations uncovered a proportional relationship: the more massive the galaxy, the bigger the black hole. The emerging picture with this new discovery is that galaxies could have “satellite IMBHs” that orbit in a galaxy’s halo but don’t always fall to the center.

Another theory is that the gas clouds in the middle of dark-matter halos in the early universe don’t make stars first, but just collapse directly into a supermassive black hole. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s discovery of very distant black holes being disproportionately more massive relative to their host galaxy tends to support this idea.

However, there could be an observational bias toward the detection of extremely massive black holes in the distant universe, because those of smaller size are too faint to be seen. In reality, there could be more variety out there in how our dynamic universe constructs black holes. Supermassive black holes collapsing inside dark-matter halos might simply grow in a different way from those living in dwarf galaxies where black-hole accretion might be the favored growth mechanism.

"So if we are lucky, we’re going to find more free-floating black holes suddenly becoming X-ray bright because of a tidal disruption event. If we can do a statistical study, this will tell us how many of these IMBHs there are, how often they disrupt a star, how bigger galaxies have grown by assembling smaller galaxies.” said Soria.

The challenge is that Chandra and XMM-Newton only look at a small fraction of the sky, so they don’t often find new tidal disruption events, in which black holes are consuming stars. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, an all-sky survey telescope from the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, could detect these events in optical light as far as hundreds of millions of light-years away. Follow-up observations with Hubble and Webb can reveal the star cluster around the black hole.

The Hubble Space Telescope has been operating for more than three decades and continues to make ground-breaking discoveries that shape our fundamental understanding of the universe. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope and mission operations. Lockheed Martin Space, based in Denver, also supports mission operations at Goddard. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, conducts Hubble science operations for NASA. 

Source: NASA's Hubble, Chandra Spot Rare Type of Black Hole Eating a Star - NASA Science

Meta's wristband breakthrough lets you use digital devices without touching them - Consumer & Gadgets - Electronics & Semiconductors

Neuromotor Interface. Credit: Reality Labs, Meta

Could Meta be on the verge of transforming how we interact with our digital devices? If the company's latest innovation takes off, we might soon be controlling our computers, cell phones and tablets with a simple flick of the wrist.

Researchers at Meta's Reality Labs division have unveiled an experimental wristband that translates hand gestures and subtle finger movements into commands that interact with a computer. This allows a user to push a cursor around a screen or open an app without needing a mouse, touchscreen or keyboard. The technology can even transcribe handwriting in the air into text (currently at a speed of 20.9 words per minute).

In a paper published in Nature, the team describes how its sEMG-RD (surface electromyography research) works. The wristband uses a technique called electromyography to pick up electrical signals when the brain tells the hand to perform an action. It then converts those signals into commands that control a connected device, such as your phone. 

Generic Neuromotor Interface overview. Credit: Reality Labs, Meta

Meta's breakthrough

Meta's scientists are building on decades-old ideas, but they have taken them one step further. They used artificial intelligence to analyze large amounts of data from thousands of individuals who tested the prototype, identifying common patterns. So when a user now slips on a wristband, it can look for these patterns. Therefore, unlike previous gesture-detection systems that required training on specific individuals, Meta's wristband quickly assesses signals and adapts to the wearer.

"To our knowledge, this is the first high-bandwidth neuromotor interface with performant out-of-the-box generalization across people," wrote the researchers.

Applying the technology

While there are plenty of possible commercial applications of the technology, such as in gaming and smart home control, the team is focused on helping those with severe disabilities. They are currently working with Carnegie Mellon to explore how this technology could benefit people with spinal cord injuries.

That's because Meta's wristband is so sensitive it can pick up the faintest muscle activity, even when there's no visible hand movement. The intention to move is enough for the system to translate it into a command. This could allow individuals with complete hand paralysis to use a computer or other devices.

There are many new technologies being developed for hands-free control, such as Elon Musk's Neuralink, which aims to plant chips in people's brains. Most are years away from being available. Meta's wristband, on the other hand, is not only noninvasive but, according to the researchers, could be available within the next few years. 

by Paul Arnold, Phys.org

edited by Lisa Lock, reviewed by Andrew Zinin 

Source: Meta's wristband breakthrough lets you use digital devices without touching them 

David Rounce and Albin Wells: Mountain Glacier Mass Change - College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

 

When Royal Guards Finally FIGHT BACK Against Dumb Tourists... - Freakout Central

 

Short Clip - Scooby-Do (2002) | Mystery Inc Solve The Case | Adventure - Comedy - Family - Fantasy - Mystery | Warner Bros. Entertainment

 

Source: Scooby-Doo (2002) - IMDb

Scarlett Johansson Interview for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) - Historic Films Stock Footage Archive

 

The Suprising Details Behind "Black Widow" #vfxbreakdown - Fame Focus

 

Funny and Weird Clips (3655)

 

Hubble Spies Swirling Spiral - UNIVERSE

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 3285B, a member of the Hydra I cluster of galaxies.

ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley (UC Santa Cruz)

The swirling spiral galaxy in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is NGC 3285B, which resides 137 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra (the Water Snake). Hydra has the largest area of the 88 constellations that cover the entire sky in a celestial patchwork. It’s also the longest constellation, stretching 100 degrees across the sky. It would take nearly 200 full moons, placed side by side, to reach from one side of the constellation to the other.

NGC 3285B is a member of the Hydra I cluster, one of the largest galaxy clusters in the nearby universe. Galaxy clusters are collections of hundreds to thousands of galaxies bound to one another by gravity. The Hydra I cluster is anchored by two giant elliptical galaxies at its center. Each of these galaxies is about 150,000 light-years across, making them about 50% larger than our home galaxy, the Milky Way.

NGC 3285B sits on the outskirts of its home cluster, far from the massive galaxies at the center. This galaxy drew Hubble’s attention because it hosted a Type Ia supernova in 2023. Type Ia supernovae happen when a type of condensed stellar core called a white dwarf detonates, igniting a sudden burst of nuclear fusion that briefly shines about 5 billion times brighter than the Sun. The supernova, named SN 2023xqm, is visible here as a blueish dot on the left edge of the galaxy’s disk.

Hubble observed NGC 3285B as part of an observing program that targeted 100 Type Ia supernovae. By viewing each of these supernovae in ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared light, researchers aim to disentangle the effects of distance and dust, both of which can make a supernova appear redder than it actually is. This program will help refine cosmic distance measurements that rely on observations of Type Ia supernovae.

Text credit: ESA/Hubble  

Source: Hubble Spies Swirling Spiral - NASA 

Physicists discover new state of quantum matter - Physics General - Physics - Quantum Physics - phys.org

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have discovered a new state of quantum matter. The state exists within a material that the team reports could lead to a new era of self-charging computers and ones capable of withstanding the challenges of deep space travel.

"It's a new phase of matter, similar to how water can exist as liquid, ice or vapor," said Luis A. Jauregui, professor of physics & astronomy at UC Irvine and corresponding author of the new paper in Physical Review Letters.

"It's only been theoretically predicted—no one has ever measured it until now."

This new phase is like a liquid composed of electrons and their counterparts, known as "holes," spontaneously pairing and forming exotic states known as excitons. Unusually, the electrons and holes spin together in the same direction.

"It's its own new thing," Jauregui said. "If we could hold it in our hands, it would glow a bright, high-frequency light."

The phase exists in a material developed at UC Irvine by Jinyu Liu, a postdoctoral researcher in Jauregui's lab and the first author of the paper. Jauregui and his team measured the phase using high magnetic fields at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico.

The key to creating the new quantum matter was in applying a high-intensity magnetic field of up to 70 Teslas to the material (by comparison, the magnetic field from a strong fridge magnet is around 0.1 Teslas), which the team calls hafnium pentatelluride. 

Professor Luis Jauregui of the UC Irvine Department of Physics & Astronomy described how the new material he and his lab developed only exists in their labs. Credit: Steve Zylius / UC Irvine

Jauregui explained that, as his team applied the magnetic field, the "material's ability to carry electricity suddenly drops, showing that it has transformed into this exotic state," he said. "This discovery is important because it may allow signals to be carried by spin rather than electrical charge, offering a new path toward energy-efficient technologies like spin-based electronics or quantum devices."

Unlike conventional materials used in electronics, this new quantum matter isn't affected by any form of radiation, which makes it an ideal candidate for space travel.

"It could be useful for space missions," Jauregui said. "If you want computers in space that are going to last, this is one way to make that happen."

Companies like SpaceX are planning human-piloted space flights to Mars, and to do that effectively, you need computers that can withstand prolonged periods of exposure to radiation.

"We don't know yet what possibilities will open as a result," Jauregui said.

The material was synthesized, characterized and made into measurable devices at UC Irvine by Jinyu Liu with assistance from graduate students Robert Welser and Timothy McSorley, and undergraduate researcher Triet Ho.

Theoretical modeling and interpretation were provided by Shizeng Lin, Varsha Subramanyan, and Avadh Saxena at LANL.

High-magnetic-field experiments were conducted with the support of Laurel Winter and Michael T. Pettes at LANL and David Graf at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Florida. 

by University of California, Irvine

edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Andrew Zinin 

Source: Physicists discover new state of quantum matter    

NASA's long journey back to the moon | 60 Minutes Full Episodes - 60 Minutes

 

TRUCKER RAMS CAR TWICE THEN LIES TO POLICE - Dashcam Lessons

 

Short Film - Sabrina Carpenter: Taste Music Video (2024) with Jenna Ortega

 

Source: Sabrina Carpenter: Taste (Music Video 2024) - IMDb

How Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Was Created Using VFX Magic - Root Studio

 

Funny and Weird Clips (3654)