The world outside our Blue planet is a mysterious dark vacuum, which is holding the secrets of the existence of our origin. Researchers and scientists are continuously digging deep to unravel the cosmic mystery and coming up with discoveries that are no less than a sci-fi thriller. Recently, NASA has used computer simulations to show that deep in space, the gas escaping the gravitational pull of a supermassive black hole may form tsunami-like structures. According to the researchers, the enigmatic environment of supermassive black holes may host the largest tsunami-like structures in the universe. The illustrations shown below are shared by NASA that illustrated a supermassive black hole veiled in dust and strange features in nearby gas.
What does the Black-hole Tsunami consist of?
“What governs phenomena here on Earth are the laws of physics that can explain things in outer space and even very far outside the black hole,” said Daniel Proga, an astrophysicist at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada.
On Earth, earthquakes and underwater volcanic eruptions are responsible for displacing ocean water to create a tsunami. But the images shared by NASA of a supermassive black hole enshrouded in dust, with strange features in nearby gas is unravelling a mystery on how laws of physics governing Earth can also explain things of outer space.
NASA explained the features of the photograph by suggesting that high-energy X-rays from the disk surrounding the black hole interact with the inflated pockets of heated gas within the atmosphere of the accretion disk and give rise to two unusual features; Tsunamis that is the light blue “waves” above the disk and a Kármán vortex street orange in colour. The heated plasma rises like a balloon, expanding into and disrupting the surrounding cooler gas which is scorching, no matter measured in whatever unit, as per the space agency.
Simply put, it is to be noted that a relatively cool atmosphere exists at a distance where the supermassive black hole loses its grip on the surrounding matter. Precisely, it is the location where the waves are formed at the supermassive black hole’s rapidly spinning disk, in likeness to the one observed above the Earth’s oceanic surface when a tsunami rises.
Subsea volcanic eruption: Explained
According to NASA, the gigantic structures are formed due to the hot pockets of gas in the outskirts of the accretion disk of the supermassive black holes that are responsible for initiating the outward propagating disturbances, instead of a subsea volcanic eruption causing tsunamis.
As they shared the photographs of the structures, NASA in the opening line of their post stated “A name fit for a sci-fi thriller: Supermassive Black Hole Tsunami.” Such discoveries lead to unravelling mysteries that are buried on the surface of the black, dense and cold space and though stronger evidence may come from future missions will continue to help in understanding our existence.
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