From The College of Natural Sciences
At
6.11.24
Samantha Brichta
Michigan State University researchers have made groundbreaking discoveries about the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. These findings, based on data from the NuSTAR X-ray telescope, were presented at the 244th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, or AAS, on June 11.
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Article Highlights
-Michigan State University researchers led by Shuo Zhang, have presented new findings that will help scientists better understand the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*.
-Grace Sanger-Johnson, a postbaccalaureate researcher, discovered nine previously undetected “flares” from Sagittarius A* — high-energy X-ray bursts that give researchers valuable insights into the black hole’s physical environment.
-Jack Uteg, an undergraduate researcher in the MSU Honors College, analyzed X-ray echoes from a molecular cloud near the black hole to peer more than 200 years into Sagittarius A*’s past.
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Black holes are notoriously difficult to study, in part because not even light can escape their immense gravity. Researchers typically infer their properties by observing their gravitational influence on nearby stars, emissions from surrounding gas clouds and other such phenomena.
Grace Sanger-Johnson and Jack Uteg, led by Shuo Zhang, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, have found innovative ways to shed more light on these cosmic enigmas using decades of X-ray data from space-based telescopes.
“Grace and Jack’s contributions are a source of immense pride,” Zhang said. “Their work exemplifies MSU’s commitment to pioneering research and fostering the next generation of astronomers. This research is a prime example of how MSU scientists are unlocking the universe’s secrets, bringing us closer to comprehending the nature of black holes and the dynamic environment at the heart of our galaxy.”
Galactic fireworks
Sanger-Johnson, a postbaccalaureate researcher, analyzed 10 years of data looking for X-ray flares from Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A*, the Milky Way’s central black hole. In doing so, she discovered nine flares that had gone unnoticed.
These flares are dramatic bursts of high-energy light that provide a unique opportunity to study the immediate environment around the black hole, a region typically invisible due to its incredible gravity.
Sgr A* is the closest and least active supermassive black hole to Earth and, therefore, data from Sgr A* and its flares is one of the only ways currently known to study the physical environments of a black hole.
“We are sitting in the front row to observe these unique cosmic fireworks at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy,” said Zhang, Sanger-Johnson’s advisor.
“Both flares and fireworks light up the darkness and help us observe things we wouldn’t normally be able to. That’s why astronomers need to know when and where these flares occur, so they can study the black hole’s environment using that light.”
Sanger-Johnson meticulously sifted through a decade’s worth of X-ray data collected from 2015 to 2024 by NuSTAR, or the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, a space-based X-ray telescope. Each of the nine newly discovered flares provides invaluable data for understanding the black hole’s environment and activities, the team said.
“We hope that by building up this bank of data on Sgr A* flares, we and other astronomers can analyze the properties of these X-ray flares and infer the physical conditions inside the extreme environment of the supermassive black hole,” Sanger-Johnson said.
Michigan State University researcher Grace Sanger-Johnson found nine previously undiscovered flares from Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole, by sifting through a decade’s worth of X-ray data. Credit: NuSTAR/NASA
‘Echoes’ of a black hole
While Sanger-Johnson focused on the brilliant flares from Sgr A*, Uteg, an undergraduate researcher in the MSU Honors College, examined the black hole’s activity using a technique akin to listening to echoes. Uteg analyzed almost 20 years’ worth of data targeting a giant molecular cloud known as “the Bridge” near Sgr A*.
“Unlike stars, these clouds of gas and dust in interstellar space don’t generate their own X-rays,” Uteg said. So when X-ray telescopes began picking up photons from the Bridge, astronomers started hypothesizing the source.
“The brightness we see is most likely the delayed reflection of past X-ray outbursts from Sgr A*,” Uteg said. “We first observed an increase in luminosity around 2008. Then, for the next 12 years, X-ray signals from the Bridge continued to increase until it hit peak brightness in 2020.”
This “echo” light from the black hole has traveled for hundreds of years from Sgr A* to the molecular cloud, and then traveled another roughly 26,000 years before reaching Earth.
By analyzing this X-ray echo, Uteg has started reconstructing a timeline of our black hole’s past activity, offering insights that wouldn’t be possible through direct observation alone. Uteg’s analysis used data from NuSTAR as well as from the European Space Agency’s X-ray Multi-Mirror, or XMM, Newton space observatory.
“One of the main reasons we care about this cloud getting brighter is that it lets us constrain how bright the Sgr A* outburst was in the past,” Uteg said.
Within these calculations, Uteg and the team at MSU has determined that about 200 years ago, Sgr A* was about 5 orders of magnitude brighter in X-rays as we see it today.
“This is the first time that we have constructed a 24-year-long variability for a molecular cloud surrounding our supermassive black hole that has reached its peak X-ray luminosity,” Zhang said. “It allows us to tell the past activity of Sgr A* from about 200 years ago. Our research team at MSU will continue this ‘astroarchaeology game’ to further unravel the mysteries of the Milky Way’s center.”
While the exact mechanisms triggering X-ray flares and the precise life cycle of black holes remain mysteries, MSU researchers are confident their findings will spark further investigation and potentially revolutionize our understanding of these enigmatic objects.
Uteg and Sanger-Johnson were supported by the NASA NuSTAR guest observation program.
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About The College of Natural Sciences
The College of Natural Sciences at The Michigan State University is home to 27 departments and programs in the biological, physical and mathematical sciences.
The college averages $57M in research expenditures annually while providing world-class educational opportunities to more than 5,500 undergraduate majors and 1,200 graduate and postdoc students. There are 800+ faculty and academic staff associated with NatSci and more than 63,000 living alumni worldwide.
College of Natural Science Vision, Mission, Values
The Michigan State University College of Natural Sciences is committed to creating a safe, collaborative and supportive environment in which differences are valued and all members of the NatSci community are empowered to grow and succeed.
The following is the college’s vision, mission and values, as co-created and affirmed by the College of Natural Sciences community:
Vision:
A thriving planet and healthy communities through scientific discovery.
Mission:
To use discovery, innovation and our collective ingenuity to advance knowledge across the natural sciences. Through equitable, inclusive practices in research, education and service, we empower our students, staff and faculty to solve challenges in a complex and rapidly changing world.
Core Values:
Inclusiveness-
Foster a safe, supportive, welcoming community that values diversity, respects difference and promotes belonging. We commit to providing equitable opportunity for all.
Innovation-
Cultivate creativity and imagination in the quest for new knowledge and insights. Through individual and collaborative endeavors, we seek novel solutions to current and emergent challenges in the natural sciences.
Openness-
Commit to honesty and transparency. By listening and being open to other perspectives, we create an environment of trust where ideas are freely shared and discussed.
Professionalism-
Strive for excellence, integrity and high ethical standards. We hold ourselves and each other accountable to these expectations in a respectful and constructive manner.
The Michigan State University is a public research university located in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. Michigan State University was founded in 1855 and became the nation’s first land-grant institution under the Morrill Act of 1862, serving as a model for future land-grant universities.
The university was founded as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, one of the country’s first institutions of higher education to teach scientific agriculture. After the introduction of the Morrill Act, the college became coeducational and expanded its curriculum beyond agriculture. Today, Michigan State University is one of the largest universities in the United States (in terms of enrollment) and has approximately 634,300 living alumni worldwide.
U.S. News & World Report ranks its graduate programs very high in the U.S. in elementary teacher’s education, secondary teacher’s education, industrial and organizational psychology, rehabilitation counseling, African history, supply chain logistics and nuclear physics. Michigan State University pioneered the studies of packaging, hospitality business, supply chain management, and communication sciences. Michigan State University is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity”. The university’s campus houses the The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden, the Abrams Planetarium, the Wharton Center for Performing Arts, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, the the The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, and the country’s largest residence hall system.
Research
The university has a long history of academic research and innovation. In 1877, botany professor William J. Beal performed the first documented genetic crosses to produce hybrid corn, which led to increased yields. Michigan State University dairy professor G. Malcolm Trout improved the process for the homogenization of milk in the 1930s, making it more commercially viable. In the 1960s, Michigan State University scientists developed cisplatin, a leading cancer fighting drug, and followed that work with the derivative, carboplatin. Albert Fert, an Adjunct professor at Michigan State University, was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Peter Grünberg.
Today Michigan State University continues its research with facilities such as The Department of Energy -sponsored Plant Research Laboratory and a particle accelerator called the The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory [below]. The Department of Energy Office of Science named Michigan State University as the site for the The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) [below]. The $730 million facility will attract top researchers from around the world to conduct experiments in basic nuclear science, astrophysics, and applications of isotopes to other fields.
The Michigan State University FRIB [Facility for Rare Isotope Beams] .
In 2004, scientists at the Cyclotron produced and observed a new isotope of the element germanium, called Ge-60 In that same year, The Michigan State University, in consortium with the The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the government of Brazil, broke ground on the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (SOAR) in the Andes Mountains of Chile.
The consortium telescope will allow the Physics & Astronomy department to study galaxy formation and origins. Since 1999, MSU has been part of a consortium called the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor, which aims to develop biotechnology research in the State of Michigan. Finally, the College of Communication Arts and Sciences’ Quello Center researches issues of information and communication management.
The Michigan State University Spartans compete in the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference. Michigan State Spartans football won the Rose Bowl Game in 1954, 1956, 1988 and 2014, and the university claims a total of six national football championships. Spartans men’s basketball won the NCAA National Championship in 1979 and 2000 and has attained the Final Four eight times since the 1998–1999 season. Spartans ice hockey won NCAA national titles in 1966, 1986 and 2007. The women’s cross-country team was named Big Ten champions in 2019. In the fall of 2019, MSU student-athletes posted all-time highs for graduation success rates and federal graduation rates, according to NCAA statistics.
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