MIT astronomers have mapped the "disk winds" associated with
The new map shows a vertical shape andthe structure of the wind, as well as its speed - hundreds of kilometers per second. If astronomers discover more oscillating systems in the future, scientists' mapping method could help determine how disk winds influence the formation and evolution of star systems and even entire galaxies.
Scientists observed Hercules X-1 with two X-ray telescopes, the European Space Agency's XMM Newton and NASA's Chandra Observatory.
Measuring X-rays and linesabsorption as the disk wobbles and rotates over time, the researchers measured properties such as the temperature and density of the wind at different altitudes above the disk, and constructed a two-dimensional map of its speed. The wind was found to rise from the disk at an angle of about 12 degrees relative to it as it expands in space, the scientists write. It becomes colder and lumpier, and weaker at higher altitudes above the disk.
The accretion disk is a colossala swirl of gas and dust that gathers around a black hole or neutron star, pulling in material from the nearby star. As it spins, it drives powerful winds that push and pull on the expanding rotating plasma. These massive outbursts can impact the surroundings of black holes, heating and blowing away gas and dust around them.
Astronomers have observed signs of disk windsin many systems, including accreting black holes and neutron stars. But they hadn't observed it with such precision until now.
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Cover photo: Jose-Luis Olivares, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Based on image of Hercules X-1 by D. Klochkov, European Space Agency