A professor in Abu Dhabi has found a rare black hole at the centre of a small and distant galaxy.
It was discovered in the IC 750 galaxy – about 45 million light years away – and is unique because of its intermediate size, which is difficult to find.
The discovery could provide an insight into the mysteries of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies.
Black holes form when a massive star collapses and starts to suck in nearby stars – not even light can escape their pull.
There is limited data about supermassive and small, or stellar, black holes, and scientists have been trying to learn more about intermediates.
Prof Ingyin Zaw, an associate professor of physics at NYU Abu Dhabi, revealed the black hole is 100 times too small relative to the galaxy it lives in.
This is unique as black holes and galaxies are known to grow equally together.
“One of the questions my research touches on is: are there any black holes in the intermediate range?
“Even though the black holes themselves are much smaller than their host galaxies, somehow it’s like they know about each other’s mass,” Prof Zaw said.
The mass of a black hole is usually measured in solar mass, which is the mass of the Sun. A small black hole has a mass of between about three and 10 solar masses and is formed when a star explodes, while a supermassive black hole is huge, with millions to billions of solar masses, and is thought to involve many stars.
But not much is known about how intermediates form.
Prof Zaw’s findings raise questions of whether intermediate black holes in small galaxies grow differently than supermassive and small ones.
Her research was funded by Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre and the findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal.
In 2019, an image of a black hole was revealed by scientists for the first time, specifically of a supermassive one in the M87 galaxy.
It had a mass more than six billion times that of the Sun, and the picture helped to prove astronomers’ theories about gargantuan black holes.
Prof Zaw and her team used the very long baseline array – 10 telescopes spread out between Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands that act as one big telescope – to obtain radio observations of the low-mass galaxy.
They studied the water maser emissions, which are audio frequencies of electromagnetic waves, to understand the black hole’s mass. These were being emitted from clouds of water vapour that were orbiting the black hole.
The team is now carrying out follow-up studies of the black hole to improve the measurement of its mass and determine how much material is falling into it.
They are also searching for water emissions from other small galaxies.
Once complete, it is hoped the study will shed more light on mysteries of how black holes are formed.
The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
