Jan 10 2006
From The Space Library
Ohio University astronomers Thomas S. Statler and Steven Diehl, who had analyzed images of 56 elliptical galaxies, which NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory had made, reported that the data from the images had revealed an unsuspected turmoil in the galaxies, which appear calm in optical light. Statler and Diehl had determined that the previously held assumption—that the equilibrium shape of the multimillion-degree gas clouds in these galaxies would correlate with the shape of its stars—had been erroneous. Searching for an energy source for the explosive activity, the astronomers had drawn a correlation between the shape of the hot gas clouds and the power produced at radio wavelengths by high-energy electrons. Scientists can trace this power output back to the centers of the galaxies, where supermassive black holes are located. Statler’s and Diehl’s analysis indicated that the phenomena of repetitive explosive activity, fueled by the in-fall of gas into central black holes—a process known to occur in giant elliptical galaxies located in galaxy clusters—was also occurring in isolated elliptical galaxies. According to Statler, “these results are part of an emerging picture that shows the impact of supermassive black holes on the environment is far more pervasive than previously thought.”
Chandra X-ray Observatory, “NGC 0507: Black Holes Stir Up Galaxies,” http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/galaxies (accessed 17 December 2009); NASA, “NASA’s Chandra Finds Black Holes Stirring Up Galaxies,” news release 06-006, 10 January 2006, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/jan/HQ_06006_Chandra_AAS_update.html (accessed 14 September 2009).
NASA awarded its Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal posthumously to astronomer and astrophysicist John N. Bahcall, who had died in August 2005 of a rare blood disorder. NASA honored Bahcall for his work developing the HST, along with astronomers Lyman S. Spitzer Jr. and George B. Field, and for his “extraordinary service to NASA’s astronomy program,” including “groundbreaking work in the 1960s toward explaining the scientific mysteries of the sun.” Bahcall had also received the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, and the National Medal of Science.
NASA, “NASA Honors Distinguished Astronomer with Medal,” news release 06-005, 10 January 2006, http://nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/jan/HQ_06005_Bahcall_AAS_Award.html (accessed 14 September 2009).
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