January 13, 2011 - Astronomy.com
Astronomers led by Karl Gebhardt from The University of Texas at Austin have measured the most massive known black hole in our cosmic neighborhood by combining data from a giant telescope in Hawaii and a smaller telescope in Texas. The result is a mass of 6.6 billion Suns for the black hole in the giant elliptical galaxy M87. This enormous mass is the largest ever measured for a black hole using a direct technique. Given its massive size, M87 is the best candidate for future studies to actually "see" a black hole for the first time, rather than relying on indirect evidence of their existence as astronomers have for decades.
Gebhardt led a team of researchers using the 8-meter Gemini North telescope in Hawaii to probe the motions of stars around the black hole in the center of the massive galaxy M87.
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Thursday, January 13, 2011
Obese Black Hole Lurks in Our Backyard
January 12, 2011 - Discovery
The black hole inside a neighboring galaxy, known as M87, is obese and filled with the equivalent of 6.6 billion of our suns, according to new measurements.
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Gebhardt and colleagues used a light-splitting spectrograph on the eight-meter (26-foot) Gemini North telescope in Hawaii to measure the speeds of stars orbiting M87's black hole. The motions are directly related to the gravitational pull of the black hole. The data was then used to calculate the black hole's mass.
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The black hole inside a neighboring galaxy, known as M87, is obese and filled with the equivalent of 6.6 billion of our suns, according to new measurements.
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Gebhardt and colleagues used a light-splitting spectrograph on the eight-meter (26-foot) Gemini North telescope in Hawaii to measure the speeds of stars orbiting M87's black hole. The motions are directly related to the gravitational pull of the black hole. The data was then used to calculate the black hole's mass.
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Astronomers weigh heavy black hole neighbour
January 13, 2011 - Astronomy Now
By making detailed measurements of the black hole that lies in nearby galaxy M87, astronomers have found that its mass is equivalent to 6.6 billion Suns.
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The Near-Infrared Field Spectrograph (NIFS) on the 8-metre Gemini North telescope was used by Karl Gebhardt and Joshua Adams of The University of Texas to track the motions of stars careening around the black hole with ten times greater resolution than previous studies have allowed. Meanwhile, University of Texas graduate student Jeremy Murphy used the VIRUS-P instrument on the Harlan J. Smith Telescope at the university's McDonald Observatory to probe the outer reaches of the galaxy known as the dark halo due to the presence of dark matter.
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By making detailed measurements of the black hole that lies in nearby galaxy M87, astronomers have found that its mass is equivalent to 6.6 billion Suns.
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The Near-Infrared Field Spectrograph (NIFS) on the 8-metre Gemini North telescope was used by Karl Gebhardt and Joshua Adams of The University of Texas to track the motions of stars careening around the black hole with ten times greater resolution than previous studies have allowed. Meanwhile, University of Texas graduate student Jeremy Murphy used the VIRUS-P instrument on the Harlan J. Smith Telescope at the university's McDonald Observatory to probe the outer reaches of the galaxy known as the dark halo due to the presence of dark matter.
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Scientists size up monster black hole
January 12, 2011 - MSNBC
Astronomers say they've come up with the definitive estimate for the mass and size of the biggest black hole in our celestial neighborhood, using a method that can now be applied to even bigger monsters beyond.
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"That had a large uncertainty," Gebhardt told me. Today, Gebhardt and his colleagues announced a new estimate that's based on high-accuracy observations from the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii as well as the McDonald Observatory. The bottom line: M87's black hole is equal to 6.6 billion solar masses, plus or minus 400 million solar masses.
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Astronomers say they've come up with the definitive estimate for the mass and size of the biggest black hole in our celestial neighborhood, using a method that can now be applied to even bigger monsters beyond.
...
"That had a large uncertainty," Gebhardt told me. Today, Gebhardt and his colleagues announced a new estimate that's based on high-accuracy observations from the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii as well as the McDonald Observatory. The bottom line: M87's black hole is equal to 6.6 billion solar masses, plus or minus 400 million solar masses.
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Astronomers Weigh Heaviest Black Hole Yet
January 12, 2011 - Wired
The black hole in the nearby galaxy M87 weighs in at 6.6 billion suns, making it the local universe’s heavyweight champ.
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To pin down the monstrous black hole’s mass, Gebhardt and his colleagues used the Gemini North telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii to measure the speeds of stars zipping past the galactic center.
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The black hole in the nearby galaxy M87 weighs in at 6.6 billion suns, making it the local universe’s heavyweight champ.
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To pin down the monstrous black hole’s mass, Gebhardt and his colleagues used the Gemini North telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii to measure the speeds of stars zipping past the galactic center.
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Neighboring black hole puts on weight
January 12, 2011 - Science News
Astronomers have determined with high precision that the black hole at the heart of the nearby galaxy M87 weighs the equivalent of 6.6 billion suns. The finding makes the monster the most massive known in Earth’s cosmic neighborhood and the heaviest black hole measured so far using the orbits of stars.
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To weigh M87’s black hole, Gebhardt’s team used precision optics on the Gemini North telescope atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea to measure the speeds of groups of stars orbiting the galaxy’s core at different distances. The speedup of stars closest to the center gives a precise measure of the black hole’s pull, allowing researchers to calculate its mass. The researchers also used data gathered by a telescope at the McDonald Observatory in west Texas.
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Monday, January 10, 2011
In Distant Galaxies, New Clues to Century-Old Molecule Mystery
January 10, 2011 - ScienceDaily
In a study that pushes the limits of observations currently possible from Earth, a team of NASA and European scientists recorded the "fingerprints" of mystery molecules in two distant galaxies, Andromeda and the Triangulum. Astronomers can count on one hand the number of galaxies examined so far for such fingerprints, which are thought to belong to large organic molecules, says the team's leader, Martin Cordiner of the Goddard Center for Astrobiology at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Figuring out exactly which molecules are leaving these clues, known as "diffuse interstellar bands" (DIBs), is a puzzle that initially seemed straightforward but has gone unsolved for nearly a hundred years. The answer is expected to help explain how stars, planets and life form, so settling the matter is as important to astronomers who specialize in chemistry and biology as determining the nature of dark matter is to the specialists in physics.
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But to study DIBs, researchers need to do much more than see that the galaxy is there. They have to pick out individual stars within the galaxy, and only a few telescopes worldwide are powerful enough to gather sufficient light for that. (The team used the Gemini Observatory's telescope in Hawaii.) This is why most DIBs found so far have been in the Milky Way.
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In a study that pushes the limits of observations currently possible from Earth, a team of NASA and European scientists recorded the "fingerprints" of mystery molecules in two distant galaxies, Andromeda and the Triangulum. Astronomers can count on one hand the number of galaxies examined so far for such fingerprints, which are thought to belong to large organic molecules, says the team's leader, Martin Cordiner of the Goddard Center for Astrobiology at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Figuring out exactly which molecules are leaving these clues, known as "diffuse interstellar bands" (DIBs), is a puzzle that initially seemed straightforward but has gone unsolved for nearly a hundred years. The answer is expected to help explain how stars, planets and life form, so settling the matter is as important to astronomers who specialize in chemistry and biology as determining the nature of dark matter is to the specialists in physics.
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But to study DIBs, researchers need to do much more than see that the galaxy is there. They have to pick out individual stars within the galaxy, and only a few telescopes worldwide are powerful enough to gather sufficient light for that. (The team used the Gemini Observatory's telescope in Hawaii.) This is why most DIBs found so far have been in the Milky Way.
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