Supermassive black holes, billions of times the mass of the sun, formed at a pace much more rapid than previously believed, according to a groundbreaking study by National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) researchers that challenges our current understanding of the universe.
INAF scientists analyzed X-ray band data captured by XMM-Newton and Chandra space telescopes, which scanned the most distant Quasars ever viewed. The researchers’ surprising results suggest a rapid, intense black hole accretion in the cosmic dawn, a period in the early universe when the first galaxies and black holes formed.
A quasar is a brilliant swirl of gas and dust falling into a supermassive black hole, forming the center of a galaxy. The incredible energy released by the black hole powers the luminous galaxy, which can be even brighter than the stars within it. Because they are so bright, quasars are visible across vast reaches of space.
X-Ray Secrets of Supermassive Black Holes
Analyzing the X-rays spewing from these supermassive black holes provided unexpected results. A correlation between the shape of the X-ray and the speed at which matter was ejecting from the quasars was evident, revealing to the INAF scientists that windspeed connects to the gas temperature at the corona, where the X-rays closest to the black hole originate.
The corona was linked to the blackhole’s growth, demonstrating a ‘super-Eddington’ speed of expansion beyond the theoretical Eddington Limit on accretion rate. This limit defines the maximum rate at which a black hole can grow, although other recent discoveries also suggest greater accretion rates exist in the universe. In this case, low X-ray emission led to a low corona temperature in high wind speed quasars, and high X-ray, hot coronas created slower quasars.
“Our work suggests that the supermassive black holes at the centre of the first quasars formed within the first billion years of the Universe’s life may have actually increased their mass very rapidly, challenging the limits of physics,” said lead author Alessia Tortosa, at INAF in Rome. “The discovery of this connection between X-ray emission and winds is crucial for understanding how such large black holes could have formed in such a short time, thus providing a concrete clue to solve one of the greatest mysteries of modern astrophysics.”
HYPERION’s Study of Quasars
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) XMM-Newton space telescope logged 700 hours viewing quasars between 2021 and 2023. The telescopes performed this under the INAF XMM-Newton Heritage Program, overseen by Luca Zappacosta as part of the HYPERION Project, which focuses on observing hyperluminous quasars from the early universe.
“In the HYPERION program, we focused on two key factors: on the one hand, the careful selection of quasars to observe, choosing the titans, meaning those that had accumulated as much mass as possible, and on the other hand, the in-depth study of their properties in X-rays, something never attempted before on such a large number of objects from the cosmic dawn,” explained HYPERION chief Luca Zappacosta.
“We hit the jackpot!” Zappacosta said of her team’s findings in a recent statement.
“The results we’re getting are genuinely unexpected, and they all point to a super-Eddington growth mechanism of the black holes. This phenomenon challenges our current understanding of black hole formation and growth.”
The Mission Continues
Distant quasars will continue to be a focus for scientists in the coming decades. NASA and ESA are planning a series of X-ray-related missions between 2030 and 2040. These missions, including ATHENA, AXIS, and Lynx, will build on the work of Tortosa’s team and the broader HYPERION project.
The results of HYPERION missions will not only aid in the design of next-generation scientific instruments but also lead to a new understanding of the cosmic past and its earliest formations, sparking new questions and avenues for exploration.
The paper “HYPERION. Shedding Light on the First Luminous Quasars: A Correlation Between UV Disc Winds and X-ray Continuum” appeared on November 20, 2024 in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds a BA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.