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Illustration of CQ 4479, a mysterious “cold quasar” that creates unlikely new stars
image credit: NASA
A research team from the University of Kansas has found something strange in the cosmos. A galaxy that is 5.25 billion light-years away has created new stars when that time should have passed in its life cycle. It is known as CQ 4479 and is currently considered a quasar. A regular quasar is simply a galaxy that has a bright active galactic core. Inside that core is a supermassive black hole which is slowly drawing all nearby material towards it. As the material falls towards the black hole, energy is released in the form of electromagnetic radiation which then heats the gases in the surrounding accretion disk. This heat prevents the formation of new stars.
Inside a quasar, there is a bright active galactic core that is drawing its surroundings … [+]
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In a cold quasar, there is not enough heat to prevent star formation. CQ 4479 shows the properties of a regular and cold quasar. Which means it emits electromagnetic radiation but stars are still forming.
How do we know?
Scientists are trying to understand how CQ 4479 could have a bright active galactic core and large numbers of cold gas-producing stars. Based on what we know about how galaxies work and how stars form, this shouldn’t be possible. However, according to research conducted by Kevin Cooke, lead author and postdoctoral researcher in KU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and co-author Allison Kirkpatrick, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at KU, it’s actually happening. The findings were recently published in the Astrophysical Journal.
This cosmic oddity was observed using NASA’s SOFIA infrared telescope and FUV-FIR photometry and optical spectroscopy. The data collected came back with contradictory information about the galaxy.
“The really unique thing about this source is that we have different measurements of energy production near the black hole,” Kirkpatrick said. “This tells you how fast the black hole is growing and also its feedback in the host galaxy that can stop star formation. We have everything from X-rays, to optics and infrared, so we can measure different signatures. of the black hole’s energy output. And the signatures disagree: it’s really rare. One interpretation is that the black hole’s growth is slowing down, because the X-rays are coming right next to the black hole, while the optical signatures they come from a little further out and the infrared signatures also come from further away. Basically, it seems that less energy is being produced around the black hole today than in the past.
All of this points to the possibility that the galaxy is changing from an active to an inactive nucleus. As Kirkpatrick herself put it, “I think this is a galaxy in midlife crisis. It is going through a final explosion of star formation. Most of its solar mass is already present. He is forming a few more stars now and the thing that will eventually kill him is starting to make itself felt. “
To confirm this theory, the team will need better data. At the moment, they can’t get the best images of CQ 4479 because the core is so bright that it outshines the rest of the galaxy, making everything else difficult to see. Further studies could prove useful for our understanding of the life cycle of galaxies and star formation. However, more powerful equipment is needed to collect new data. The team has made it possible to use NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which is due to launch on October 31, 2021. Hopefully, this will shed some light on the subject and they will be able to understand what’s going on.
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