Researchers have developed an innovative technique to search for black hole light echoes. Their novel method, which will make it easier for the mass and the spin of black holes to be measured, represents a major step forward, since it operates independently of many of the other ways in which scientists have probed these parameters in the past.
A team of astrophysicists, led by scholars from the Institute for Advanced Study, has developed an innovative technique to search for black hole light echoes. Their novel method, which will make it easier for the mass and the spin of black holes to be measured, represents a major step forward, since it operates independently of many of the other ways in which scientists have probed these parameters in the past.
The technique allows the faint echo signatures to be isolated from the stronger direct light captured by well-known interferometric telescopes, such as the Event Horizon Telescope. Both Wong and one of his co-authors, Lia Medeiros, Visitor in the Institute's School of Natural Sciences and NASA Einstein Fellow at Princeton University, have worked extensively as part of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration.
Understanding these properties is important."Black holes play a significant role in shaping the evolution of the universe," says Wong."Even though we often focus on how black holes pull things in, they also eject large amounts of energy into their surroundings. They play a major role in the development of galaxies, affecting how, when, and where stars form, and helping to determine how the structure of the galaxy itself evolves.
The team's results suggest that it may be possible to detect echoes with a pair of telescopes -- one on Earth and one in space -- working together to perform what can be described as"very long baseline interferometry." Such an interferometric mission need only be"modest," states Wong. Their technique provides a tractable, practical method to gather important, reliable information about black holes.
Astronomy Galaxies Astrophysics Albert Einstein Optics Physics Quantum Physics
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