Chandra's 53-hour observation of the central region of the Perseus galaxy cluster (left) has revealed wavelike features (right) that appear to be sound waves. The features were discovered by using a special image-processing technique to bring out subtle changes in brightness. These sound waves are thought to have been generated by explosive events occurring around a supermassive black hole (bright white spot) in Perseus A, the huge galaxy at the center of the cluster. The image also shows two vast, bubble-shaped cavities filled with high-energy particles and magnetic fields. They create the sound waves by pushing the hot X-ray emitting gas aside. The pitch of the sound waves translates into the note of B flat, 57 octaves below middle-C. This frequency is over a million billion times deeper than the limits of human hearing, so the sound is much too deep to be heard.

Like Bass? Scientists Have Found the Lowest Note in the Universe

August 9, 2017 Alan Cross 0 Comments

Just as we puny humans like our beats and bass, the Universe as a whole likes a good thump, too. A supermassive black hole in the

A supermassive black hole in the centre of a clump of galaxies known as the Perseus Cluster has long been known as a source of a lot of heat and light. But the thing also acts as the biggest subwoofer in nature.

Yes, I know that sound can’t travel in a vacuum, but the gas and plasma surrounding the black hole act as a medium. Astronomers have measured the sound waves coming from it, concluding that the note is a B-flat, some million billion times deeper than the range of human hearing. This deep, deep, DEEP note allows ripples of soundwaves to travel hundreds of thousands of light years away from its source. What’s more is that scientists say that this black hole has been holding this note for 2.5 million years.

All right, cool. But so what? NASA explains:

For years astronomers have tried to understand why there is so much hot gas in galaxy clusters and so little cool gas. Hot gas glowing with X-rays ought to cool because X-rays carry away some of the gas’ energy. Dense gas near the cluster’s center where X-ray emission is brightest should cool the fastest. As the gas cools, say researchers, the pressure should drop, causing gas from further out to sink toward the center. Trillions of stars ought to be forming in these gaseous flows.

Yet scant evidence has been found for flows of cool gas or for star formation. This forced astronomers to invent several different ways to explain how gas contained in clusters remained hot. None of them were satisfactory.

“Black hole sound waves, however, might do the trick.”

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