Astronomers Find New Black Holes Thanks To NASA's IXPE Ride

Illustration of observations of the Swift J1727 binary system (photo: dock. NASA)

Astronomers managed to find a stellar mass black hole last summer. This astronomical object was revealed thanks to NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) ride.

According to a recent report shared by NASA, the black hole is part of the Swift J1727.8-1613 binary system. Astronomers discovered the presence of the strongest object in the space during an unusual event of enlightenment.

Although it was discovered nearly a year ago, reports on Swift J1727's discovery were only published in the Astrophysical Journal and Astronomy & Astrophysics. In the report, astronomers explain how the evolution of the black hole binary system is.

"Since our first detection of the explosion, Swift J1727 has only taken a few days to peak. At that time, IXPE and a number of telescopes and other instruments had collected data," said Alexandra Veledina, one of the astrophysicists.

Alexandra explained that Swift J1727 was brighter than the Crab Nebula. Actually, eruptions in binary systems are a natural thing to happen, but usually not as bright as Swift J1727 and not as close as the binary system.

This binary system is about 8,800 light-years away. In addition to its unusual distance and appearance, the evolution of this black hole is also quite unique. Usually, this black hole forms because old stars explode due to running out of fuel.

However, in the case of Swift J1727, black holes actually eat the material of their companion star and heat up material to more than 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit so that the X-ray bulk is very large.

In fact, this black hole cannot be observed optimally because its light is inherent in its gravity. Therefore, no conclusions have yet been drawn in the observation of the black hole in this Swift J1727 binary system.

"Because light itself cannot be separated from its gravity, we cannot see black holes," said Alexandra. We can only observe what is happening around black holes and draw conclusions about the mechanisms and processes that occur there," he said.