{"id":795919,"date":"2025-05-06T12:27:04","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T17:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=795919"},"modified":"2025-05-06T12:27:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T17:27:04","slug":"nasas-nicer-maps-debris-from-recurring-cosmic-crashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=795919","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s NICER Maps Debris From Recurring Cosmic Crashes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>Lee esta nota de prensa en espa\u00f1ol aqu\u00ed.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For the first time, astronomers have probed the physical environment of repeating X-ray outbursts near monster black holes thanks to data from NASA\u2019s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) and other missions.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists have only recently encountered this class of X-ray flares, called QPEs, or quasi-periodic eruptions. A system astronomers have nicknamed Ansky is the eighth QPE source discovered, and it produces the most energetic outbursts seen to date. Ansky also sets records in terms of timing and duration, with eruptions every 4.5 days or so that last approximately 1.5 days.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese QPEs are mysterious and intensely interesting phenomena,\u201d said Joheen Chakraborty, a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. \u201cOne of the most intriguing aspects is their quasi-periodic nature. We\u2019re still developing the methodologies and frameworks we need to understand what causes QPEs, and Ansky\u2019s unusual properties are helping us improve those tools.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NASA\u2019s NICER Studies Recurring Cosmic Crashes\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZBzL97Dh4xA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Watch how astronomers used data from NASA\u2019s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) to study a mysterious cosmic phenomenon called a quasi-periodic eruption, or QPE.<br \/><strong>NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ansky\u2019s name comes from ZTF19acnskyy, the moniker of a visible-light outburst seen in 2019. It was located in a galaxy about 300 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. This event was the first indication that something unusual might be happening.<\/p>\n<p>A paper about Ansky, led by Chakraborty, was published Tuesday in The Astrophysical Journal.<\/p>\n<p>A leading theory suggests that QPEs occur in systems where a relatively low-mass object passes through the disk of gas surrounding a supermassive black hole that holds hundreds of thousands to billions of times the Sun\u2019s mass.<\/p>\n<p>When the lower-mass object punches through the disk, its passage drives out expanding clouds of hot gas that we observe as QPEs in X-rays.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists think the eruptions&#8217; quasi-periodicity occurs because the smaller object\u2019s orbit is not perfectly circular and spirals toward the black hole over time. Also, the extreme gravity close to the black hole warps the fabric of space-time, altering the object\u2019s orbits so they don\u2019t close on themselves with each cycle. Scientists\u2019 current understanding suggests the eruptions repeat until the disk disappears or the orbiting object disintegrates, which may take up to a few years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnsky\u2019s extreme properties may be due to the nature of the disk around its supermassive black hole,\u201d said Lorena Hern\u00e1ndez-Garc\u00eda, an astrophysicist at the Millennium Nucleus on Transversal Research and Technology to Explore Supermassive Black Holes, the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, and University of Valpara\u00edso in Chile. \u201cIn most QPE systems the supermassive black hole likely shreds a passing star, creating a small disk very close to itself. In Ansky\u2019s case, we think the disk is much larger and can involve objects farther away, creating the longer timescales we observe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hern\u00e1ndez-Garc\u00eda, in addition to being a co-author on Chakraborty\u2019s paper, led the study that discovered Ansky\u2019s QPEs, which was published in April in Nature Astronomy and used data from NICER, NASA\u2019s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and Chandra X-ray Observatory, as well as ESA\u2019s (European Space Agency\u2019s) XMM-Newton space telescope.<\/p>\n<p>NICER\u2019s position on the International Space Station allowed it to observe Ansky about 16 times every day from May to July 2024. The frequency of the observations was critical in detecting the X-ray fluctuations that revealed Ansky produces QPEs.<\/p>\n<p>Chakraborty\u2019s team used data from NICER and XMM-Newton to map the rapid evolution of the ejected material driving the observed QPEs in unprecedented detail by studying variations in X-ray intensity during the rise and fall of each eruption.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers found that each impact resulted in about a Jupiter\u2019s worth of mass reaching expansion velocities around 15% of the speed of light.<\/p>\n<p>The NICER telescope\u2019s ability to frequently observe Ansky from the space station and its unique measurement capabilities also made it possible for the team to measure the size and temperature of the roughly spherical bubble of debris as it expanded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll NICER\u2019s Ansky observations used in these papers were collected after the instrument experienced a \u2018light leak\u2019 in May 2023,\u201d said Zaven Arzoumanian, the mission\u2019s science lead at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. \u201cEven though the leak \u2013 which was patched in January \u2013 affected the telescope\u2019s observing strategy, NICER was still able to make vital contributions to time domain astronomy, or the study of changes in the cosmos on timescales we can see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the repair, NICER continued observing Ansky to explore how the outbursts have evolved over time. A paper about these results, led by Hern\u00e1ndez-Garc\u00eda and co-authored by Chakraborty, is under review.<\/p>\n<p>Observational studies of QPEs like Chakraborty\u2019s will also play a key role in preparing the science community for a new era of multimessenger astronomy, which combines measurements using light, elementary particles, and space-time ripples called gravitational waves to better understand objects and events in the universe.<\/p>\n<p>One goal of ESA\u2019s future LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, in which NASA is a partner, is to study extreme mass-ratio inspirals \u2014 or systems where a low-mass object orbits a much more massive one, like Ansky. These systems should emit gravitational waves that are not observable with current facilities. Electromagnetic studies of QPEs will help improve models of those systems ahead of LISA\u2019s anticipated launch in the mid-2030s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to keep observing Ansky for as long as we can,\u201d Chakraborty said. \u201cWe\u2019re still in the infancy of understanding QPEs. It\u2019s such an exciting time because there\u2019s so much to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>By <\/strong><strong>Jeanette Kazmierczak<\/strong><br \/><strong>NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center<\/strong><strong>, Greenbelt, Md.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Media Contact:<\/strong><br \/><strong>Claire Andreoli<\/strong><br \/><strong>301-286-1940<\/strong><br \/><strong>claire.andreoli@nasa.gov<\/strong><br \/><strong>NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/universe\/nasas-nicer-maps-debris-from-recurring-cosmic-crashes\/?rand=772197\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lee esta nota de prensa en espa\u00f1ol aqu\u00ed. For the first time, astronomers have probed the physical environment of repeating X-ray outbursts near monster black holes thanks to data from&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":795920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-795919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-station"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=795919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/795920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=795919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=795919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=795919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}