Astronomers Measure Supermassive Black Hole's Spin Using Destroyed Star
TL;DR
For the first time, astronomers have measured the spin of a supermassive black hole using the wobble of a hot accretion disk formed from a star that was torn apart by the black hole. The event, known as AT2020ocn, revealed that the black hole's spin is less than one-quarter of the speed of light. This discovery, made using the NICER telescope, provides new insights into the growth and evolution of supermassive black holes.
Topics:sciencespace-and-physics#astronomy#black-hole-spin#space-and-physics#supermassive-black-hole#tidal-disruption-event#x-ray-emission
- Supermassive Black Hole's Spin Measured For The First Time With Destroyed Star IFLScience
- Lense–Thirring precession after a supermassive black hole disrupts a star Nature.com
- Churning spacetime and destroyed stars help reveal how fast supermassive black holes spin Space.com
- Groundbreaking Measurement Reveals a Black Hole Spinning at a Quarter the Speed of Light Gizmodo
- Astronomers Just Calculated The Spin Speed of a Supermassive Black Hole ScienceAlert
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