A recent survey of supermassive black holes has revealed that their spin rates are much faster than initially thought. According to a study by Logan Fries and his colleagues, these massive black holes formed primarily through gas and dust consumption over time, rather than galaxy collisions.
Measuring the spin rate of black holes is crucial for understanding their formation history. Astronomers typically estimate spin rates by observing how matter falls into the black hole. However, this method has its limitations. Fries and his team used the Sloan Digital Sky Survey’s Reverberation Mapping Project to measure the mass and spin rates of hundreds of black holes over cosmic history.
The results were a surprise, as the data suggested that many supermassive black holes are spinning too fast to have been formed by galaxy mergers alone. The researchers found that these black holes must have formed in large part from material falling in, growing smoothly and speeding up their rotation rates.
This discovery challenges the prevailing wisdom that black holes are always created in galaxy collisions. Instead, it suggests that many supermassive black holes built up over time through a smooth and controlled process of gas consumption. The research provides new insights into the growth history of black holes and offers a promising direction for future studies.
As the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) continues to explore the universe, its observations will help provide more targets for study. Future surveys, such as the SDSS Reverberation Mapping project, will follow up with more precise measurements of these massive black holes.
Understanding how supermassive black holes gained their mass is crucial for advancing our knowledge of these enigmatic objects. The discovery of this new mechanism challenges traditional theories and opens up new avenues for research in astrophysics and cosmology.
Source: https://www.universetoday.com/170514/black-holes-are-spinning-faster-than-expected