Ritmo espacial: un agujero negro como reloj universal

Un equipo científico internacional liderado por el Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, CSIC-INTA) ha descubierto la variabilidad sin precedentes de la emisión de rayos X procedente del agujero negro situado en el núcleo de una galaxia activa (AGN). El nuevo fenómeno, acuñado como ‘erupciones cuasi-periódicas» (QPEs), ayudará a comprender algunos aspectos desconcertantes de la acreción de los agujeros negros.

imagen artística de un disco de acreción alrededor de un agujero negro con la silueta superpuesta del observatorio de rayos X XMM-Newton. © Ignacio de la Calle (ESAC).

 

La emisión de rayos X procedente del núcleo de GSN 069, una galaxia a unos 250 millones de años luz de la Tierra, se detectó por primera vez en el verano de 2010 durante una observación del telescopio espacial XMM-Newton de la Agencia Espacial Europea (ESA).
Desde ese año, los observatorios de rayos X XMM-Newton y Neil Gehrels Swift (NASA) han seguido observando la evolución de la emisión de GSN 069, constatando que ha ido decayendo lentamente con el tiempo, lo que sería consistente con la repentina destrucción de una estrella (probablemente una gigante) que se acercó demasiado y fue reforzada por las intensas fuerzas de marea del agujero negro, lo que se conoce como un ‘evento de disrupción de marea’.
Como señala Giovanni Miniutti, investigador del Centro de Astrobiología y autor principal del presente estudio, “aunque pudiera haber otras posibles explicaciones, sospechamos que ese estallido de rayos X de 2010 fue debido a la destrucción de una estrella en el núcleo de GSN 069; y el posterior decaimiento de la emisión, al acrecimiento de los restos de la estrella hacia el agujero negro central”. Los datos del estudio indican que se trata de un agujero negro con una masa de unas cien mil millones de veces la masa del Sol.
Aunque la observación de este tipo de eventos sea de gran importancia para estudiar en detalle los fenómenos de acreción (la adición de masa a partir de materia circundante) en los agujeros negros, la galaxia GSN 069 escondía todavía una inesperada sopresa para los investigadores.
Lo que ha descubierto recientemente el equipo de Miniutti y que ha sido publicado en la revista Nature, es un nuevo y espectacular fenómeno que está ocurriendo en GSN 069. En la víspera de Navidad de 2018, XMM-Newton detectó unas enormes erupciones de rayos X que se repetían, algo que nunca se había visto en galaxias activas. Durante estas erupciones ‘cuasi-periódicas’ (o QPEs, Quasi Periodic Eruptions), término acuñado por los autores, la emisión de rayos X de GSN 069 aumentaba en un factor de cien durante aproximadamente una hora, y el fenómeno se repetía cada 9 horas.
Dado el enorme interés del descubrimiento se realizaron de nuevo observaciones con los telescopios XMM-Newton y Chandra (NASA) en enero y febrero de 2019, que confirmaron que las erupciones se mantenían, al menos durante un par de meses.
Este extraordinario evento, observado por primera vez, permitirá mejorar la comprensión sobre algunos de los aspectos más desconcertantes asociados con la acreción de los agujeros negros.
Las erupciones cuasi periódicas de GSN 069 son un fenómeno tan nuevo que su origen físico necesita ser identificado todavía.
El equipo GSN 069 es una colaboración internacional liderada por el Centro de Astrobiología y con la participación de instituciones de España, EEUU, Reino Unido, Sudáfrica, Francia, Australia y Bélgica. El equipo utilizó datos astronómicos de los observatorios de rayos X SMM-Newton, Chandra y Neil Gehrel Swift, el Telescopio Espacial Hubble, el Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), el Australia Telescope Compact Array (ACTA) y los radiotelescopios sudafricanos MeerKAT.

 

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