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From supernova to something much more intriguing at the core of galaxy 253-3 - NASASpaceflight.com

From supernova to something much more intriguing at the core of galaxy 253-3 - NASASpaceflight.com

From supernova to something much more intriguing at the core of galaxy 253-3 - NASASpaceflight.com
Jan 13, 2021 2 mins, 21 secs

December 30, 2020.

December 29, 2020.

November 30, 2020

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Anna and her team began to study the phenomenon in more detail, as the possibility emerged that they had found a periodic variable active galactic nuclei — a long sought for entity that could, in part, help astronomers better understand some of the processes taking place around supermassive black holes

Crucially, using the calculated repetition period, the team was able to correctly predict flare events on 17 May, 7 September, and 20 December 2020 — all of which were observed

As with the November 2018 event, TESS again observed the entire December 2020 flare during its survey of Sectors 31, 32, and 33

“We think a supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center creates the bursts as it partially consumes an orbiting giant star,” said Anna.  “These are the most predictable and frequent recurring multiwavelength flares we’ve seen from a galaxy’s core, and they give us a unique opportunity to study this extragalactic [event] in detail.”

The first scenario, while possible, carries issues which make it improbable, including that the orbital period identified does not match what the predicted masses of each black hole would have to be

Artist’s impression of the supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy ESO 253-3

In this scenario, a massive star would be orbiting the supermassive black hole at a highly inclined angle relative to the disk.  Therefore, it would only pass through the disk twice on a single orbit, disturbing material each time and sending it to be consumed by the supermassive black hole, thus producing the flashes. 

What’s more, the star passing through the accretion disk at two different locations in its orbit would almost certainly produce variations detectable in the data, yet each flare appears relatively uniform going back to 2014

In this scenario, a star 78 million times more massive than the Sun and in a slightly eccentric orbit passes close enough to the supermassive black hole at pericenter (point of closest approach in the orbit) that the gravitational forces of the black hole cause the star to bulge outward, allowing the black hole to steal some of the star’s matter

This stolen matter (equivalent in mass to three Jupiters) falls inward to the supermassive black hole, creating the bright flares observed every 114 days

Basically, the star is locked in an unwinnable death battle with the supermassive black hole but has managed to position itself into an orbit that brings it just close enough that the black hole can grab some of its matter while managing to stay just barely far enough away to prevent the supermassive black hole’s gravity from tearing it apart completely. 

In this scenario, the star associated with ASASSN-14ko will have more and more of its material lost to the supermassive black hole at each pericenter encounter before it is eventually consumed over successive partial tidal disruption events. 

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