Rapid X-ray flaring from the direction of the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Centre.

The nuclei of most galaxies are now believed to harbour supermassive black holes. The motions of stars in the central few light years of our Milky Way Galaxy indicate the presence of a dark object with a mass of about 2.6 x 106 solar masses (refs 2, 3). This object is spatially coincident with the compact radio source Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) at the dynamical centre of the Galaxy, and the radio emission is thought to be powered by the gravitational potential energy released by matter as it accretes onto a supermassive black hole. Sgr A* is, however, much fainter than expected at all wavelengths, especially in X-rays, which has cast some doubt on this model. The first strong evidence for X-ray emission was found only recently. Here we report the discovery of rapid X-ray flaring from the direction of Sgr A*, which, together with the previously reported steady X-ray emission, provides compelling evidence that the emission is coming from the accretion of gas onto a supermassive black hole at the Galactic Centre.     

A gas cloud on its way towards the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Centre

Measurements of stellar orbits provide compelling evidence that the compact radio source Sagittarius A* at the Galactic Centre is a black hole four million times the mass of the Sun. With the exception of modest X-ray and infrared flares, Sgr A* is surprisingly faint, suggesting that the accretion rate and radiation efficiency near the event horizon are currently very low. Here we report the presence of a dense gas cloud approximately three times the mass of Earth that is falling into the accretion zone of Sgr A*. Our observations tightly constrain the cloud's orbit to be highly eccentric, with an innermost radius of approach of only ～3,100 times the event horizon that will be reached in 2013. Over the past three years the cloud has begun to disrupt, probably mainly through tidal shearing arising from the black hole's gravitational force. The cloud's dynamic evolution and radiation in the next few years will probe the properties of the accretion flow and the feeding processes of the supermassive black hole. The kilo-electronvolt X-ray emission of Sgr A* may brighten significantly when the cloud reaches pericentre. There may also be a giant radiation flare several years from now if the cloud breaks up and its fragments feed gas into the central accretion zone.     

银河系中心超大质量黑洞Sgr A＊的光变研究进展

越来越多的观测证据表明,位于银河系中心的致密射电源SgrA*是一个质量约为400万个太阳质量的超大质量黑洞.本文介绍在射电、毫米/亚毫米、近红外、X射线波段对Sgr A*的光变观测和理论研究进展.自1974年被射电干涉测量发现伊始,Sgr A*就被检测到时标从天到年不等的射电光变,随着新的观测设备的出现和观测技术的发展,天文学家先后在所有的对银河系中心可观测波段上检测到了Sgr A*的光变,包括在毫米/亚毫米波段的时标为小时的快速光变,近红外波段上时标不到1 h的显著光变,以及空间X射线卫星记录到的幅度变化几十倍以上的巨大耀变.这些光变观测数据可以用于估算产生Sgr A*耀变辐射的区域范围(假设光变是由整个源产生的,辐射区域的尺度/与光变时标τ之间存在线性关系,/≤Cr),并对Sgr A*辐射机制研究提供了间接的限制.近年来开展的一些多波段联测显示,近红外和×射线光变是同步发生的,并且都比射电和毫米波光变先出现,这类时间延迟支持Sgr A*光变的绝热膨胀理论模型.但目前成功的多波段耀变观测非常有限,如何获得从射电厘米波到X射线的Sgr A*光变间的内在关联将是未来几年中Sgr A*光变的一个主要研究方向.     

A size of approximately 1 au for the radio source Sgr A* at the centre of the Milky Way

Although it is widely accepted that most galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centres, concrete proof has proved elusive. Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), an extremely compact radio source at the centre of our Galaxy, is the best candidate for proof, because it is the closest. Previous very-long-baseline interferometry observations (at 7 mm wavelength) reported that Sgr A* is approximately 2 astronomical units (au) in size, but this is still larger than the 'shadow' (a remarkably dim inner region encircled by a bright ring) that should arise from general relativistic effects near the event horizon of the black hole. Moreover, the measured size is wavelength dependent. Here we report a radio image of Sgr A* at a wavelength of 3.5 mm, demonstrating that its size is approximately 1 au. When combined with the lower limit on its mass, the lower limit on the mass density is 6.5 x 10(21)M(o) pc(-3) (where M(o) is the solar mass), which provides strong evidence that Sgr A* is a supermassive black hole. The power-law relationship between wavelength and intrinsic size (size proportional, variantwavelength(1.09)) explicitly rules out explanations other than those emission models with stratified structure, which predict a smaller emitting region observed at a shorter radio wavelength.     

Near-infrared flares from accreting gas around the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Centre

Recent measurements of stellar orbits provide compelling evidence that the compact radio source Sagittarius A* (refs 4, 5) at the Galactic Centre is a 3.6-million-solar-mass black hole. Sgr A* is remarkably faint in all wavebands other than the radio region, however, which challenges current theories of matter accretion and radiation surrounding black holes. The black hole's rotation rate is not known, and therefore neither is the structure of space-time around it. Here we report high-resolution infrared observations of Sgr A* that reveal 'quiescent' emission and several flares. The infrared emission originates from within a few milliarcseconds of the black hole, and traces very energetic electrons or moderately hot gas within the innermost accretion region. Two flares exhibit a 17-minute quasi-periodic variability. If the periodicity arises from relativistic modulation of orbiting gas, the emission must come from just outside the event horizon, and the black hole must be rotating at about half of the maximum possible rate.     

对银河系中心超大质量黑洞候选体Sgr A*的VLBI观测研究

位于银河系中央的极其致密的非热射电源Sagittari8us A^*（Sgr A^*），被公认为最佳的超大质量黑洞候选体，其质量约为400万个太阳质量。甚长基线干涉测量（BLBI）技术以其独有的高空间分辩率为我们提供了唯一可以探讨Sgr A^*位于几个史瓦西（Schwarzschild）半径区域内天体物理性质的手段。介绍了对 Sgr A^*的VLBI研究现状和最新进展，着重论述了毫米波和亚毫米波VLBI观测对研究Sgr A^*的辐射区域的真实形状和大小，以及探索其结构随时间变化的重要性。Sgr A^*无疑是检验广义相对论将就的亚亮米波VLBI实验的最佳目标。     

Interstellar scintillation as the origin of the rapid radio variability of the quasar J1819+3845.

The liberation of gravitational energy as matter falls onto a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy is believed to explain the high luminosity of quasars. The variability of this emission from quasars and other types of active galactic nuclei can provide information on the size of the emitting regions and the physical process of fuelling the black hole. Some active galactic nuclei are variable at optical (and shorter) wavelengths, and display radio outbursts over years and decades. These active galactic nuclei often also show faster intraday variability at radio wavelengths. The origin of this rapid variability has been extensively debated, but a correlation between optical and radio variations in some sources suggests that both are intrinsic. This would, however, require radiation brightness temperatures that seem physically implausible, leading to the suggestion that the rapid variations are caused by scattering of the emission by the interstellar medium inside our Galaxy. Here we show that the rapid variations in the extreme case of quasar J1819+3845 (ref. 10) indeed arise from interstellar scintillation. The transverse velocity of the scattering material reveals the presence of plasma with a surprisingly high velocity close to the Solar System.     

Relativistic jet activity from the tidal disruption of a star by a massive black hole

Supermassive black holes have powerful gravitational fields with strong gradients that can destroy stars that get too close, producing a bright flare in ultraviolet and X-ray spectral regions from stellar debris that forms an accretion disk around the black hole. The aftermath of this process may have been seen several times over the past two decades in the form of sparsely sampled, slowly fading emission from distant galaxies, but the onset of the stellar disruption event has not hitherto been observed. Here we report observations of a bright X-ray flare from the extragalactic transient Swift J164449.3+573451. This source increased in brightness in the X-ray band by a factor of at least 10,000 since 1990 and by a factor of at least 100 since early 2010. We conclude that we have captured the onset of relativistic jet activity from a supermassive black hole. A companion paper comes to similar conclusions on the basis of radio observations. This event is probably due to the tidal disruption of a star falling into a supermassive black hole, but the detailed behaviour differs from current theoretical models of such events.     

A star in a 15.2-year orbit around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way

Many galaxies are thought to have supermassive black holes at their centres-more than a million times the mass of the Sun. Measurements of stellar velocities and the discovery of variable X-ray emission have provided strong evidence in favour of such a black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, but have hitherto been unable to rule out conclusively the presence of alternative concentrations of mass. Here we report ten years of high-resolution astrometric imaging that allows us to trace two-thirds of the orbit of the star currently closest to the compact radio source (and massive black-hole candidate) Sagittarius A*. The observations, which include both pericentre and apocentre passages, show that the star is on a bound, highly elliptical keplerian orbit around Sgr A*, with an orbital period of 15.2 years and a pericentre distance of only 17 light hours. The orbit with the best fit to the observations requires a central point mass of (3.7 +/- 1.5) x 10(6) solar masses (M(*)). The data no longer allow for a central mass composed of a dense cluster of dark stellar objects or a ball of massive, degenerate fermions.     

射电类星体辐射压的研究

收集了20个射电宁静类星体(radio quiet quasars,RQQs)和97个射电噪类星体(radio loud quasars,RLQs)的红移、5 100的单色光度、Hβ发射线宽度、射电噪度、5 GHz射电光学流量密度、热光度.分别计算了考虑辐射压影响和没有考虑辐射压影响的黑洞质量和爱丁顿比,利用总的5GHz射电光学流量密度计算了射电光度.分析了它们之间的相关性,得到如下结论:RQQs考虑辐射压的黑洞质量与射电噪度、5 GHz射电光度、热光度的相关性比RLQs考虑辐射压的黑洞质量和射电噪度、5 GHz射电光度、热光度的相关性弱;考虑辐射压后,RQQs的黑洞质量和红移的相关性比RLQs的强,RQQs的黑洞质量Mma108 M☉,而且它的吸积未超爱丁顿吸积;由于辐射压对宽线云有影响,且大多数人认为RQQs可能来自吸积盘,表明宽线区和吸积盘可能有关联;考虑辐射压的RQQs和RLQs的黑洞质量与射电噪度、5 GHz射电光度、热光度的相关性比没有考虑辐射压黑洞质量与射电噪度、5GHz射电光度、热光度的相关性好;考虑辐射压后,RQQs和RLQs的黑洞质量—射电噪度分布、黑洞质量—Ηβ发射线宽度分布、射电噪度—爱丁顿比分布的不同说明辐射压对RQQs和RLQs的不同会产生影响.     

活动星系核吸积盘辐射的研究

在标准吸积盘辐射模型的基础上,考虑了不同的质量吸积率、不同的无量纲旋转参数a(中心黑洞为克尔黑洞)、最小稳定轨道半径处存在的约束(产生一个矩)和吸积盘表面磁场的存在(喷流辐射与吸积盘辐射之间存在一定的耦合)对吸积盘辐射的影响。结果表明,中心黑洞为正旋转的克尔黑洞比史瓦西黑洞辐射的峰值及峰值频率大,负旋转的克尔黑洞比史瓦西黑洞辐射的峰值及峰值频率小,质量吸积率越大峰值和峰值频率变大,无量纲黑洞旋转参数a越大峰值与峰值频率越大,喷流辐射能量和吸积盘辐射能量之比越大峰值和峰值频率越小,辐射效率越大峰值和峰值频率越大。     

Correlated fast X-ray and optical variability in the black-hole candidate XTE J1118+480.

Black holes become visible when they accrete gas, a common source of which is a close stellar companion. The standard theory for this process (invoking a 'thin accretion disk') does not explain some spectacular phenomena associated with these systems, such as their X-ray variability and relativistic outflows, indicating some lack of understanding of the actual physical conditions. Simultaneous observations at multiple wavelengths can provide strong constraints on these conditions. Here we report simultaneous high-time-resolution X-ray and optical observations of the transient source XTE J1118+480, which show a strong but puzzling correlation between the emissions. The optical emission rises suddenly following an increase in the X-ray output, but with a dip 2-5 seconds in advance of the X-rays. This result is not easy to understand within the simplest model of the optical emission, where the light comes from reprocessed X-rays. It is probably more consistent with an earlier suggestion that the optical light is cyclosynchrotron emission that originates in a region about 20,000 km from the black hole. We propose that the time dependence is evidence for a relatively slow (<0.1c), magnetically controlled outflow.     

Birth of a relativistic outflow in the unusual γ-ray transient Swift J164449.3+573451

Active galactic nuclei, which are powered by long-term accretion onto central supermassive black holes, produce relativistic jets with lifetimes of at least one million years, and the observation of the birth of such a jet is therefore unlikely. Transient accretion onto a supermassive black hole, for example through the tidal disruption of a stray star, thus offers a rare opportunity to study the birth of a relativistic jet. On 25 March 2011, an unusual transient source (Swift J164449.3+573451) was found, potentially representing such an accretion event. Here we report observations spanning centimetre to millimetre wavelengths and covering the first month of evolution of a luminous radio transient associated with Swift J164449.3+573451. The radio transient coincides with the nucleus of an inactive galaxy. We conclude that we are seeing a newly formed relativistic outflow, launched by transient accretion onto a million-solar-mass black hole. A relativistic outflow is not predicted in this situation, but we show that the tidal disruption of a star naturally explains the observed high-energy properties and radio luminosity and the inferred rate of such events. The weaker beaming in the radio-frequency spectrum relative to γ-rays or X-rays suggests that radio searches may uncover similar events out to redshifts of z?≈?6.     

A close nuclear black-hole pair in the spiral galaxy NGC 3393

The current picture of galaxy evolution advocates co-evolution of galaxies and their nuclear massive black holes, through accretion and galactic merging. Pairs of quasars, each with a massive black hole at the centre of its galaxy, have separations of 6,000 to 300,000 light years (refs 2 and 3; 1 parsec = 3.26 light years) and exemplify the first stages of this gravitational interaction. The final stages of the black-hole merging process, through binary black holes and final collapse into a single black hole with gravitational wave emission, are consistent with the sub-light-year separation inferred from the optical spectra and light-variability of two such quasars. The double active nuclei of a few nearby galaxies with disrupted morphology and intense star formation (such as NGC 6240 with a separation of about 2,600 light years and Mrk 463 with a separation of about 13,000 light years between the nuclei) demonstrate the importance of major mergers of equal-mass spiral galaxies in this evolution; such mergers lead to an elliptical galaxy, as in the case of the double-radio-nucleus elliptical galaxy 0402+379 (with a separation of about 24 light years between the nuclei). Minor mergers of a spiral galaxy with a smaller companion should be a more common occurrence, evolving into spiral galaxies with active massive black-hole pairs, but have hitherto not been seen. Here we report the presence of two active massive black holes, separated by about 490 light years, in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 3393 (50 Mpc, about 160 million light years). The regular spiral morphology and predominantly old circum-nuclear stellar population of this galaxy, and the closeness of the black holes embedded in the bulge, provide a hitherto missing observational point to the study of galaxy/black hole evolution. Comparison of our observations with current theoretical models of mergers suggests that they are the result of minor merger evolution.     

The suppression of star formation by powerful active galactic nuclei

The old, red stars that constitute the bulges of galaxies, and the massive black holes at their centres, are the relics of a period in cosmic history when galaxies formed stars at remarkable rates and active galactic nuclei (AGN) shone brightly as a result of accretion onto black holes. It is widely suspected, but unproved, that the tight correlation between the mass of the black hole and the mass of the stellar bulge results from the AGN quenching the surrounding star formation as it approaches its peak luminosity. X-rays trace emission from AGN unambiguously, whereas powerful star-forming galaxies are usually dust-obscured and are brightest at infrared and submillimetre wavelengths. Here we report submillimetre and X-ray observations that show that rapid star formation was common in the host galaxies of AGN when the Universe was 2-6 billion years old, but that the most vigorous star formation is not observed around black holes above an X-ray luminosity of 10(44) ergs per second. This suppression of star formation in the host galaxy of a powerful AGN is a key prediction of models in which the AGN drives an outflow, expelling the interstellar medium of its host and transforming the galaxy's properties in a brief period of cosmic time.     

Vaidya-Bonner黑洞的瞬时辐出度

利用Vaidya--Bonner黑洞视界面附近的熵密度，导出黑洞的瞬时辐出度，得到了任一时刻黑洞的瞬时辐出度总是正比于黑洞视界温度的四次方的结论。导出的广义Stefan—Boltzmann系数不再是一个恒量，而是一个与黑洞视界的变化率、黑洞视界面附近的时空度规及黑洞的吸收与辐射系数有关的一个动比例系数。揭示了黑洞周围的引力场与其热辐射之间存在着必然的内在联系。     

The accelerations of stars orbiting the Milky Way's central black hole

Recent measurements of the velocities of stars near the centre of the Milky Way have provided the strongest evidence for the presence of a supermassive black hole in a galaxy, but the observational uncertainties poorly constrain many of the black hole's properties. Determining the accelerations of stars in their orbits around the centre provides much more precise information about the position and mass of the black hole. Here we report measurements of the accelerations of three stars located approximately 0.005 pc (projected on the sky) from the central radio source Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*); these accelerations are comparable to those experienced by the Earth as it orbits the Sun. These data increase the inferred minimum mass density in the central region of the Galaxy by an order of magnitude relative to previous results, and localize the dark mass to within 0.05 +/- 0.04 arcsec of the nominal position of Sgr A*. In addition, the orbital period of one of the observed stars could be as short as 15 years, allowing us the opportunity in the near future to observe an entire period.     

变加速直线运动带电黑洞的瞬时辐出度

利用变加速直线运动带电黑洞视界面附近的熵密度,导出黑洞的瞬时辐出度,得到了任一时刻黑洞沿某一方向的瞬时辐出度总是正比于在该方向上黑洞视界温度4次方的结论。导出的广义Stefan-Boltnnann系数不再是一个恒量,而是一个与黑洞视界的变化率、黑洞视界面附近的时空度规及黑洞的吸收与辐射系数有关的一个动比例系数。揭示了黑洞周围的引力场与其热辐射之间存在着必然的内在联系。     

星系内黑洞形成过程的熵演化

将星系中黑洞的形成过程分为两个阶段:第一个阶段是有序化的"整肃"阶段,第二个阶段是无序化的"撞击"阶段.从热力学角度和引力场论、量子辐射的角度详细地分析了这两个阶段中星系系统熵(黑洞广义熵)的演化,得出星系中黑洞的形成过程是一个熵减少过程的结论.     

An efficient photoelectric X-ray polarimeter for the study of black holes and neutron stars

The study of astronomical objects using electromagnetic radiation involves four basic observational approaches: imaging, spectroscopy, photometry (accurate counting of the photons received) and polarimetry (measurement of the polarizations of the observed photons). In contrast to observations at other wavelengths, a lack of sensitivity has prevented X-ray astronomy from making use of polarimetry. Yet such a technique could provide a direct picture of the state of matter in extreme magnetic and gravitational fields, and has the potential to resolve the internal structures of compact sources that would otherwise remain inaccessible, even to X-ray interferometry. In binary pulsars, for example, we could directly 'see' the rotation of the magnetic field and determine if the emission is in the form of a 'fan' or a 'pencil' beam. Also, observation of the characteristic twisting of the polarization angle in other compact sources would reveal the presence of a black hole. Here we report the development of an instrument that makes X-ray polarimetry possible. The factor of 100 improvement in sensitivity that we have achieved will allow direct exploration of the most dramatic objects of the X-ray sky.