(MENAFN-EIN press wire)
The researchers identified a new radio source (white square) at the center of the cluster (red circle).
Globular Cluster 47 A dense ball of stars that makes up Tukanae.Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Legacy (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration
The discovery was made using CSIRO’s Australian Telescope Compact Array. Credit: Alex Cherney/CSIRO
A world-class team of astronomers has created the most sensitive radio image ever of a globular cluster, a dense sphere of ancient stars.
Perth, Western Australia, Australia, January 16, 2024 / EINPresswire / — This image of the second brightest globular cluster in the night sky, known as 47 Tucanae, was created by a team led by the international organization Curtin University Node . Western Australian Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR).
Scientists also detected a previously undetected radio signal from the center of the cluster.
The study was published overnight in The Astrophysical Journal.
Dr Arash Bahramian, an astronomer at ICRAR’s Curtin University node, said star clusters are ancient relics of the early universe.
“Globular clusters are very old, gigantic balls of stars found around the Milky Way. They are incredibly dense, with tens to millions of stars packed into a ball. ” he said.
“Our images are of 47 Tucanae, one of the most massive globular clusters in the galaxy. It has more than a million stars and a very bright, very dense core.”
Dr Bahramian said the ultra-sensitive images were created from more than 450 hours of observations with CSIRO’s Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) in Gomeroi.
This is the deepest and most sensitive radio image ever collected by an Australian radio telescope.
Dr Baharamian said the 47 Tucanidae species can be seen with the naked eye and were first cataloged in the 1700s.
But by imaging in such detail, astronomers are now able to discover incredibly faint radio signals at the center of the cluster that were previously undetectable, he said.
Dr Alessandro Paduano, lead author from ICRAR’s Curtin University node, said the detection of the signal was an exciting discovery and could be attributed to one of two possibilities.
“First, the 47 Tukanae may contain black holes with masses between the supermassive black holes found at the centers of galaxies and stellar black holes formed when stars collapse. That means there is,” he said.
“Intermediate-mass black holes are thought to exist within globular clusters, but they have not yet been clearly detected.
“If this signal turns out to be a black hole, it would be a very important discovery and the first time a black hole has been detected in radio waves within a star cluster.”
A second possible source is a pulsar, a rotating neutron star that emits radio waves.
“This is an interesting discovery scientifically, as a pulsar so close to the cluster center could be used to search for as yet undetected central black holes,” Padano said.
Co-author CSIRO researcher Dr Tim Galvin said the project once again demonstrated the continuing importance of ATCA.
“This project has stretched our software to its limits in terms of both data management and processing. It’s really exciting to see the richness of science that these technologies have enabled.”
“Alessandro’s work is the culmination of many years of research and technological advances, and ATCA’s ultra-deep images of 47 Tukanae bodies are just the beginning of discoveries to come.”
The ultra-high sensitivity images produced are what researchers can expect from the SKA Radio Telescope, currently being built in Australia and South Africa by the SKA Observatory (SKAO).
When completed, the SKA telescopes will be the two largest radio telescope arrays in the world, transforming our understanding of the universe and addressing some of the most fundamental scientific questions of our time.
Dr. Bahramian said researchers are continually discovering new and innovative ways to get the most out of the radio telescopes they use.
“We have succeeded in achieving near-SKA quality science using the current generation of radio telescopes, combining hundreds of hours of observations to reveal the faintest details,” he said. said.
“This is a glimpse into the exciting capabilities that the next generation of radio telescopes will achieve once they are operational.”
The technology used for this ultra-sensitive image could help future radio telescopes such as SKA detect some of the faintest objects in the universe.
Charlene DiMonte
International Radio Astronomy Research Center
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Globular cluster 47 discovered inside Tukanae
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