X-ray telescope finds something unexpected in black hole's 'heartbeat'

An art-style rendering of the black hole IGR J17091‑3624, showing material orbiting near its inner region, called the corona, which emits powerful X-rays as detected by NASA's X-ray Polarimetry Survey Explorer (IXPE). (Photo: NASA/Caltech-IPAC/Robert Hurt)

The incredible rhythms, dubbed the “heartbeat” of a black hole, are forcing astrophysicists to rethink the behavior of these cosmic giants.

IGR J17091-3624, a black hole located about 28,000 light-years from Earth, was observed by NASA's IXPE X-ray Polarimetry Probe. The object is nicknamed for its bright, rhythmic pulsations in brightness as it absorbs material from its companion star. The pulsations are caused by oscillations in the superheated plasma swirling around the object (the accretion disk) and in the inner region, the corona, which can reach extreme temperatures and generate intense X-rays.

IXPE measured the polarization — the orientation of X-rays from the black hole — to determine the coherence of its pulsations. The spacecraft found a surprising 9.1 percent polarization, significantly higher than predicted by theoretical models, NASA said.

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Measuring the polarization level reveals features of the black hole's geometry and the movement of matter in its vicinity. Such high values usually mean that the corona is viewed almost edge-on, revealing its ordered structure. However, other observations of IGR J17091-3624 do not seem to agree with this interpretation, which puzzles the researchers.

Astrophysicists have tried two different hypotheses to interpret the recent data. The first proposes strong winds from the accretion disk that scatter the X-rays, increasing their polarization without the need for edge-on viewing. The second hypothesis suggests that the corona itself is expanding at a tremendous rate, causing relativistic effects that enhance the polarization. Simulations of both situations are consistent with the IXPE results, but each challenges established ideas about the environment around black holes.

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NASA

Samantha Mathewson, Space.com contributor

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