Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
A group of experts have reportedly detected the presence of great energy in the Galaxy Messier 87 which is a radio galaxy.
Radio galaxies (RDG) generate large amounts of radio waves from their galactic cores. The core of the radio galaxy is believed to be a massive black hole.
The black hole at the center of the galaxy collects gas and dust, producing a high-energy emission, seen in radio waves that accelerates the movement of electrically charged particles.
Reported from Arxiv, Messier 87 or M87 is a giant radio galaxy located in the Virgo Cluster, known to be a source of very high energy gamma rays (VHE).
Located about 53.5 million light years from Earth, M87 or also known as Virgo A is the dominant galaxy, the center of the Virgo Cluster.
M87 is classified as a giant Fanaroff-Riley I radio galaxy, with a diameter of about 980 thousand light-years and an estimated dynamic mass of about 15 trillion solar masses.
One of the most striking markers of this galaxy is its prominent radiance with complex structures such as knots and diffuse emission, the superluminal motion of which is faster than the movement of light, which also exhibits complex variability.
Messier 87 is the first radio galaxy to be detected as a VHE and exhibits complex behavior at very high energies with rapid variability.
However, it is not yet known what mechanism is responsible for VHE emission in this galaxy. Therefore, a group of researchers led by Fernando Urena-Mena of the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics in Puebla, Mexico decided to explore this topic by analyzing available data from the Cherenkov Water Imaging Telescope (IACTs) and the Cherenkov High Altitude Water Observatory ( HAWC).
“The main objective of this work was to compare the VHE emissions from RDG M87 observed by IACTs over a period (including the 2005 fires) with the long-term quiescent/average emissions provided by continuous observations from the HAWC observatory from 2014 to 2019,” write the authors. astronomers in a paper published on arXiv.org on December 16.
“We used the lepto-hadronic model, which combines the SSC [Synchrotron Self Compton] and photo-hadronics, to explain these emissions,” he added.
Reported from Phys, to explain the emission of VHE M87, the research team fitted the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) of this galaxy with a lepto-hadronic model. So when there is emission from radio to GeV gamma rays, the emission will be described by SSC scenario.
Then the results showed that the lepto-hadronic model was able to explain the silent VHE emission from M87 detected by HAWC and other observation facilities.
The model can explain the so-called ‘orphan flare’ of this galaxy, which is only detected in the VHE band. These flares are said to be produced by changes in the proton energy distribution.
In addition, the researchers also estimated the proton energy distribution index with four VHE data sets. This parameter was found to be at level 2.8. The results are consistent with research conducted in 2016 using a similar lepto-hadronic model.
Furthermore, the astronomers note that further monitoring of M87 with HAWC will be necessary to find out more about the origin of the VHE emissions.
The researchers add that a better understanding of the extremely high energy emission of M87 could be crucial for increasing general knowledge about radio galaxies and their properties.
(lnn / fea)
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