A Black Hole Primer (presented by Chandra X-ray Observatory) @ChandraXray

Chandra X-ray Observatory | A Black Hole Primer (presented by Chandra X-ray Observatory) @ChandraXray | Uploaded 2 years ago | Updated 2 hours ago
Humanity has long sought to learn about the Milky Way, our home galaxy. Even after the advent of optical telescopes, the Milky Way's center, some 26,000 light years from Earth, remained mysterious, because gas and dust block most visible light along our line of sight. Fortunately, X-ray telescopes, like NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, can detect higher-energy radiation that penetrates this veil of galactic debris.

Since Chandra was launched into space in 1999, it has observed the center of the Milky Way many times. And what it has found is no less than revolutionary. A supermassive black hole weighing about 4 million times the mass of our Sun sits at the center of our Galaxy. Astronomers call this black hole “Sagittarius A*” or “Saj A-star” for short. Sgr A* sits in a complex and dynamic environment surrounded by stars, hot gas, supernova remnants and more. Professor Daryl Haggard of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, has been one of the leading researchers in using Chandra to learn about the heart of our Milky Way.

For more information, visit:
https://chandra.si.edu/blackhole/ and
https://chandra.si.edu/photo/2022/sgra/

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$Data Sonification: R Aquarii (Multiwavelength) Astronomers often look at objects in space through multiple telescopes. Because different telescopes can detect different types of light, each brings its own pieces of information to whatever is being observed. This is similar in some ways to how different notes of the musical scale can be played together to create harmonies that are impossible with single notes alone. In the past few years, NASA has been producing “sonifications” of astronomical data of objects in space. This project takes the digital data captured by its telescopes in space — most of which is invisible to our unaided eyes — and translates them into musical notes and sounds so they can be heard rather than seen. Each layer of sound in these sonifications represents particular wavelengths of light detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope in various combinations. R Aquarii: The system called R Aquarii contains two stars – a white dwarf and a red giant – in orbit around each other. In a composite visual image, Hubble data (red and blue) reveal spectacular structures that are evidence of outbursts generated by the pair of stars buried at the center of the image. X-rays from Chandra show a jet from the white dwarf banging into the material surrounding it and creating shock waves. In the sonification of R Aquarii, the piece evolves as a radar-like scan of the image, clockwise starting at the 12 o’clock position. The volume changes in proportion to the brightness of sources in Hubble’s visible light and Chandra’s X-ray image, while the distance from the center dictates the musical pitch (higher notes are farther out). The deep thuds toward the four corners are “diffraction spikes,” which are artifacts from the bright central star. Listeners can hear jets from the white dwarf as the cursor travels near the two o’clock and eight o’clock positions. The ribbon-like arcs captured by Hubble create a rising and falling melody that sounds similar to a set of singing bowls (metal bowls that produce different sounds and tones when struck with a mallet), while the Chandra data are rendered to sound more like a synthetic and These sonifications were led by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) and included as part of NASAs Universe of Learning (UoL) program. The collaboration was driven by visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand (CXC), astrophysicist Matt Russo, and musician Andrew Santaguida (both of the SYSTEM Sounds project). For more information, visit: https://chandra.si.edu/photo/2023/sonify7/$

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