A recent study indicates that highly active supermassive black holes, responsible for generating quasars at the centers of galaxies, may significantly alter the chemical evolution of these galaxies.
The research, led by the Center for Astrobiology (CAB) in Spain, involved collaboration with the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA), GRANTECAN, and the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.
Quasars are among the brightest objects in the universe, featuring a supermassive black hole at their core, with masses ranging from millions to billions of solar masses, surrounded by an accretion disk of gas. The intense gravity of the black hole generates extreme temperatures and pressures in the disk, leading to intense radiation and phenomena such as relativistic jets and cosmic winds that inject large amounts of energy into the galaxy.
The team mapped the relative abundances of oxygen and nitrogen in the gas of the active galaxy SDSS 1430+1339, discovered by volunteers from the Galaxy Zoo citizen science project and located over a billion light-years from Earth. This quasar, nicknamed 'Teacup' for its cup-like shape, features a bubble of hot, ionized gas over thirty thousand light-years in diameter surrounding its active core.
This bubble is associated with a massive flow of energy and high-velocity particles generated by the activity of its supermassive black hole. The data show that this flow, termed 'superwind,' acts as a powerful mechanism for energy injection throughout the galaxy, affecting the chemical composition of the gas.
Montserrat Villar, a researcher at CAB and the lead author, stated, 'Our study shows that this superwind impacts the chemical composition of gas as it travels through the galaxy, reaching enormous distances.' She noted that a similar phenomenon in the heart of the Milky Way could contaminate heavy elements in a vast volume, including our solar system.
The observed variations in oxygen and nitrogen abundances throughout the Teacup galaxy may align with various scenarios, all implicating the supermassive black hole's activity as the final mechanism for chemical enrichment of the gas, even at great distances.
Co-author Sara Cazzoli from the IAA emphasized the importance of understanding how supermassive black holes regulate galaxy evolution, stating that the study provides direct evidence of their impact on chemical evolution.
The team utilized integral field spectroscopy data from the MUSE instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, which has enabled detailed study of the faint ionized gas surrounding active galaxies like Teacup.
Analyzing the relative abundance and distribution of heavy elements in galaxy gas is crucial for reconstructing their chemical evolution history, which is key to star and planet formation.
Villar concluded, 'This study is just the beginning, as it can be extended to many other galaxies. We have the theoretical tools and necessary data to investigate if similar phenomena have occurred throughout cosmic history.'