March 5, 2014

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Giant Black Hole Spins at Half Light-Speed

The half-the-speed-of-light spin of a giant black hole suggests it grew by digesting another black hole in a galaxy merger. Clara Moskowitz reports 

By Clara Moskowitz

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Two remarkable things about a giant black hole called RX J1131 at the center of a galaxy some 6 billion light years away. One: it's the farthest black hole to have its spin measured. Two: it’s spinning at half the speed of light. That’s according to a report in the journal Nature. [R. C. Reis et al., Reflection from the strong gravity regime in a lensed quasar at redshift z = 0.658] 
 
Astronomers have wondered, do large black holes grow gradually via steady intake of material; or quickly, for example, in a merger with another black hole during a galactic collision. Spin offers clues.
 
If the merger idea is correct, lots of new material flowing in a single direction feeds a black hole, driving the spin faster one way.    
 
But a black hole that ate small meals from different directions would receive tiny pushes that cancel each other, and leave the black hole spinning slowly.
 
The half-the-speed-of-light-fantastic being tripped by this newly analyzed black hole thus suggests it grew by digesting another black hole in a galaxy merger.
 
Our own Milky Way's black hole could be in for a similar fate when we collide with our neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy. Relax, it’s not for another four billion years.

—Clara Moskowitz

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]

[Scientific American is a member of Nature Publishing Group.]

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Clara Moskowitz is chief of reporters at Scientific American, where she covers astronomy, space, physics and mathematics. She has been at Scientific American for more than a decade; previously she worked at Space.com. Moskowitz has reported live from rocket launches, space shuttle liftoffs and landings, suborbital spaceflight training, mountaintop observatories, and more. She has a bachelor’s degree in astronomy and physics from Wesleyan University and a graduate degree in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

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Giant Black Hole Spins at Half Light-Speed