lmbsweller 1

8eglna lmbsweller
AS18 1020 P
ur SkelLon
Aprll 17 2010




Empiiical Eviuence foi Stellai Black Boles









lmbsweller 2

1he flrsL lndlcaLlon for black holes was noL emplrlcal buL LheoreLlcal lL grew ouL of an
lmpllcaLlon of LlnsLeln's Lheory of general relaLlvlLy developed by Lhe Cerman asLronomer karl
Schwarzschlld ln 1916 Pls hypoLhesls was LhaL for sLars compressed below a crlLlcal mass/radlus raLlo
gravlLy would be sLrong enough Lo capLure everyLhlng lncludlng llghL LhaL goL as close as Lhe socalled
evenLhorlzon 1he acLual exlsLence of Jotk or ftozeo stots as Lhey were called aL Lhe Llme was doubLed
by physlclsLs for a long perlod because of Lhe requlred exLreme compresslon of ordlnary maLLer SLephen
Pawklng ln 1be uolvetse lo o Notsbell remembers golng Lo arls Lo glve a semlnar on my dlscovery LhaL
quanLum Lheory means LhaL black holes aren'L compleLely black My semlnar fell raLher flaL because aL
LhaL Llme almosL no one ln arls belleved ln black holes"
1
Whlle Lhey are by deflnlLlon unobservable
Lhere ls evldence for sLellarslzed black holes from Lhe observaLlon of socalled blnary sysLems ln whlch a
large vlslble sLar and a small vlsually dark ob[ecL elLher black hole or a neuLron sLar roLaLe around each
oLher 1he lmages of radlaLlon generaLed by Lhese ob[ecLs show xray ouLbursLs wlLh speclflc paLLerns
such as Lhose observed by nASA's Chandra xray observaLory speclflc Lo sLellar black holes 1here ls also
supporL for Lhe exlsLence of lnLermedlaLeslzed black holes ln sLellar clusLers and of supermasslve black
holes ln Lhe cenLers of galaxles and lnslde of quasars
2

1he flrsL sLrong observaLlonal evldence was dlscovered by 1om 8olLon aL Lhe unlverslLy of
1oronLo's uavld uunlap CbservaLory ln CnLarlo ln 1971 8olLon was researchlng blnary sLar sysLems
composed of Lwo sLars orblLlng each oLher When he flrsL observed Lhe sysLem conLalnlng PuL 226868
and an lnvlslble xray source Cygnus x1 he assumed LhaL Lhe lnvlslble parLner was a neuLron sLar
unusual emlsslon llnes led Lo furLher observaLlon lrom PuL226868's esLlmaLed speed of roLaLlon around
Cygnus x1 ca 70km/s lL followed LhaL Cygnus x1 was much Loo dense and lLs gravlLaLlonal pull was
much Loo sLrong for a neuLron sLar 1he only feaslble concluslon was LhaL Lhe lnvlslble source of xrays
was a black hole 1he flndlngs suggesLed LhaL gas from Lhe vlslble sLar was pulled lnLo Cygnus x1 and
LhaL Lhe xrays were produced by Lhe gas becomlng superhoL whlle swlrled aL exLreme speeds before
lmbsweller 3

enLerlng Lhe socalled evenL horlzon of Lhe black hole beyond whlch Lhey could no longer be observed
3

8olLon publlshed hls flndlngs ln lebruary 1972 ln Notote
4


Model of Lhe blnary sysLem conLalnlng Cygnus x1 Source nASA

ln !uly 1999 nASA launched Lhe Chandra xray CbservaLory a Lelescope deslgned for Lhe speclflc
deLecLlon of xray emlsslons from exLremely hoL reglons lncludlng maLLer heaLed by black holes Chandra
orblLs Lhe earLh aL ca 139000km alLlLude on a saLelllLe Lherefore lL has dlrecL access Lo xray radlaLlon
from Lhe unlverse whlch ls mosLly absorbed ln Lhe LarLh's aLmosphere and ls hardly observable from Lhe
ground lL ls operaLed by Lhe SmlLhsonlan's AsLrophyslcal CbservaLory ln Cambrldge MA whlch also
malnLalns a publlc webslLe
3
WlLh Chandra's flndlngs and observaLlons from oLher sources lncludlng Lhe
!apanese ASCA saLelllLe Lhe Luropean xMMnewLon CbservaLory and nASA's 8ossl xray 1lmlng Lxplorer
(8x1L) Lhere ls now evldence of ca 20 sLellarslze black holes 1he supporLlng lmages of radlaLlon
generaLed by black holes show sLrong xray ouLbursLs such as Lhose observed by nASA's Chandra xray
observaLory whlch are LheoreLlcally characLerlsLlc of black holes 1he flndlngs suggesL a sLrong slmllarlLy
beLween sLellar and supermasslve black holes ln Lhe cenLers of galaxles
6

lronlcally nASA now reporLs LhaL Lhe evldence for Cygnus x1 ls noL as sLrong as lL was earller
whlle oLher exemplars are beLLer conflrmed Some asLronomers argue LhaL Cygnus' roLaLlng company
sLar mlghL have less mass Lhan Lhe assumed 30 solar masses whlch ln Lurn would lessen Lhe mlnlmum
lmbsweller 4

mass requlred of Lhe cenLral ob[ecL presumed aL 7 solar masses Lo 3 solar masses openlng Lhe way for
Lhe posslblllLy LhaL Cygnusx ls lndeed a neuLron sLar lrom Lhls example we can see how noL only Lhe
dlrecLly observed phenomena buL also assumed clrcumsLances here Lhe mass of Lhe accompanylng sLar
play a role ln Lhe lnLerpreLaLlon of evldence Cne of Lhe premlses ln Lhe case of Cygnus x1 ls LhaL Lhe
unknown cenLer ob[ecL ls elLher a neuLron sLar or a black hole AnoLher underlylng assumpLlon here ls
LhaL Lhe maxlmum posslble mass for a neuLron sLar ls ca 3 solar masses (on average 14 solar masses)
whlle black holes have a mass of more Lhan 3 ln Lhe range of 413 solar masses sLemmlng from sLars
LhaL had 23 or more solar masses before collapslng 1hls crlLlcal mass ls supposed Lo be Lhe Lhreshold aL
whlch a collapslng sLar remnanL ls sub[ecL Lo so much gravlLy LhaL Lhe collapse does noL end aL Lhe
neuLron level buL conLlnues beyond compresslng Lhe remnanL maLLer much furLher
1he dlfference ln slze beLween neuLron sLars and black holes means LhaL neuLron sLars are ln
prlnclple vlslble whlle black holes are noL Whlle a neuLron sLar of close Lo 3 solar masses and a denslLy
of 10
14
Lo 10
13
g/cm
3
has a radlus of 20km a black hole ls ln Lheory collapsed Lo a slngularlLy a polnL wlLh
lnflnlLe denslLy WheLher Lhls polnL of zero volume ls acLually reached ls beyond conflrmaLlon Lhe
volume of Lhe black hole ls wlLhln lLs socalled Schwarzschlld radlus or evenL horlzon wlLhln whlch Lhe
escape speed" Lo geL away from Lhe black hole's gravlLy ls hlgher Lhan Lhe speed of llghL lor an ob[ecL
of 3 solar masses Lhls would be ca 9km lor a neuLron sLar of Lhls mass Lhe Schwarzschlld radlus would
be lnslde of lLs own boundarles Powever ln Lhls case Lhe dlfference ln vlslblllLy ls noL useful ln
observaLlon because of Lhe long dlsLances small slzes and Lhe facL LhaL neuLron sLars don'L glve off llghL
lnsLead Lhe evldence for boLh neuLron sLars and black holes comes from Lhe radlaLlon of lnLeracLlng
maLerlals
CenLral ln all observaLlons of neuLron sLars and sLellar black holes ls Lhe xray radlaLlon from
blnary sysLems lndlcaLlng LemperaLures of a few mllllon kelvln Slnce lL s launch ln 1993 8ossl x8ay
1lmlng Lxplorer (8x1L) has ylelded lnformaLlon polnLlng Lowards dlfferenL paLLerns of radlaLlon
lmbsweller 3

Managed by nASA lLs feaLures lnclude hlgh Llme resoluLlon ln comblnaLlon wlLh specLral resoluLlon Lo
explore Lhe varlablllLy of xray sources.
7

xrays ouLbursLs on neuLron sLars are explalned by Lhe producLlon of a Lhermonuclear flash by
explodlng accumulaLed gas around Lhe solld surface of a neuLron sLar 1hls speclflc observaLlon seems Lo
dlsLlngulsh neuLron sLars from black holes slnce Lhls Lype of exploslon would noL occur around black
holes 1en years afLer 8x1L's sLarL of operaLlons asLronomers compared 8x1L's xray daLa wlLh Lhe
respecLlve llsLs of candldaLes accordlng Lo Lhelr dlfferences ln esLlmaLed masses and found a perfecL
maLch beLween new daLa and prevlous hypoLheses
8

1he xray ouLbursLs LhaL are characLerlsLlc for neuLron sLars would noL happen around black
holes ln Lhe same paLLern because Lhey don'L have a solld surface and would noL accumulaLe gases or
elecLrons ln Lhe same manner for before reachlng Lhe requlred amounL of accumulaLlon Lhe maLLer
would have been pulled lnslde Lhe evenL horlzon
9
Socalled Lype l xray bursLs are lndlcaLlve of brlef
Lhermonuclear erupLlons and lasLs abouL one mlnuLe wlLh a frequency of several hours
10

1he radlaLlon obLalned from black holes ls explalned as Lhe emlsslon from maLerlal elLher
lnLersLellar maLLer llke gas and dusL or from parLs of Lhe companlon sLar LhaL are pulled Lowards Lhe
black hole now lL ls belleved LhaL Lhese maLerlals enLer an orblL around Lhe black hole and are
accumulaLed ln an accreLlon dlsc and are heaLed Lo exLreme LemperaLures of Lens of mllllons degrees by
Lhe moLlon and frlcLlon of belng swlrled around before splrallng lnslde Lhe evenL horlzon
11
A slgn for Lhe
ldenLlflcaLlon black holes ls Lhe randomness of xrays due Lo Lhe varlaLlon of maLerlal falllng ln Cygnus x
1 for example has varlaLlons and fllckerlng ln Lhe range of 1/1000sec
12
lrom Lhe varlaLlons of socalled
hard and sofL specLral sLaLes concluslons can be drawn abouL Lhe dlsc of accreLed maLerlal and Lhe
roLaLlon speed
13
ln 1992 lmages from Cygnus C1 were Laken ln whlch flashes of ulLravloleL llghL
spuLLered" and dlsappeared 1he lmage lllusLraLes dlfferenL sLages of gas accordlng Lo data assembled
lmbsweller 6

by Joseph Dolan of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and a rendering that demonstrates the different
stages of matter falling beyond the event horizon.
14


uolan observed sequences of pulses of slx or seven lasLlng 02 seconds each and geLLlng smaller wlLh each
repeLlLlon called dylng pulse Lralns" 1hese prellmlnary daLa sLrongly polnL Loward Lhe exlsLence of an
evenL horlzon
13

As of early 2009 Lhere were ca 20 blnary sysLems for whlch Lhere was sLronger evldence LhaL Lhey
conLaln black holes Lhan Lhere was for Cygnus x1 1wo of Lhem are A062000 and v404 Cygnl
16
A0620
00 ln Lhe consLellaLlon Monoceros ls ca 2800 Lo 3400 llghL years away and has 3 Lo 13 solar masses lL
had brlghL flareups ln 1917 and ln 1973 when Lhe sLrengLh was measured aL 100000 Llmes Lhe normal
radlaLlon and has been classlfled as an xray nova 1he flareups are explalned by sudden dumplng of large
amounLs of gas comlng from Lhe accompanylng sLar LhaL accumulaLed on Lhe black hole's accreLlon dlsk
lLs companlon sLar has only one half solar mass whlch makes Lhls blnary sysLem dlfferenL from mosL
oLhers whose accompanylng sLars are large and brlghL v 404 Cygnl wlLh an esLlmaLed 12 solar masses
also has had flareups of gas lasL observed ln 1938 and 1989 when Lhe accreLed gas's denslLy reached a
Llpplng polnL and suddenly fell ln Lhe hole
17

lmbsweller 7

AnoLher black hole candldaLe x1L !1330364 dlscovered by Lhe 8ossl x8ay 1lmlng Lxplore
(8x1L) saLelllLe had Lwo powerful ouLbursLs of xrays ln 1998 and several smaller ones slnce ln 2000 lL
was classlfled as a mlcroquasar
18
when Chandra observed [eLs of hlghenergy parLlcles e[ecLed from Lhe
accreLlon dlsk ln Lhe lllusLraLlon on Lhe rlghL Lhe [eLs are vlsuallzed as verLlcal llnes ln Lhe Lhree
phoLographs on Lhe lefL flrsL Lhe [eL on Lhe lefL and Lhen also Lhe one on Lhe rlghL are seen as Lhey move
away from Lhe cenLer aL ca half Lhe speed of llghL Whlle Lhe [eL on Lhe lefL dlsappeared ln Lhe Lhlrd
lmage Lhe one on Lhe rlghL grew brlghLer posslbly because of lnLeracLlng wlLh gas as lndlcaLed by lLs
comeLllke shape
19



CredlL LefL xray (nASA/CxC) 8lghL lllusLraLlon (CxC/MWelss)
lL should be noLed LhaL Lhese [eL ouLbursLs seem Lo be common feaLures of all Lypes of
ob[ecLs LhaL accreLe gas lncludlng neuLron sLars supermasslve black holes and posslbly dwarf
novae Powever Lhere seem Lo be dlsLlncL paLLerns such as an order of accreLlon sLaLes for
black hole xray blnarles 1he followlng dlagram shows Lhe dlfference beLween Lhe Lhree Lypes
of sysLems lL ls a socalled Pardness lnLenslLy dlagram (Plu) comparlng measuremenLs from a
lmbsweller 8

black hole (lefL) a neuLron sLar (mlddle) and Lhe dwarf nova SS Cyg (rlghL) 1he hardness of x
rays ls deflned by Lhelr hlgher energy level whlle sofL xrays have a lower energy level

CredlL krdlng eLal
1he verLlcal scale noLes all xray counLs beLween 38 and 212 kev whlle Lhe xray hardness
raLlo on Lhe horlzonLal scale represenLs Lhe raLlon of Lhe hard" counLs (63103 kev) Lo Lhe
sofL" counLs (3863kev)
20

CLher observaLlons allow lnferences regardlng dlfferenL splnnlng speeds of black holes
8esulLs from Lhe xray specLra from lron aLoms lndlcaLe LhaL Lhey can have dlfferenL orblLs
dependlng on Lhe splnnlng veloclLy of Lhe black hole uaLa from 2003 show LhaL around Cygnus
x1 Lhe lron aLoms were noL closer Lhan 100 mlles Lo Lhe evenL radlus whlch would lndlcaLe LhaL
lL ls noL splnnlng (see Lhe lmage on Lhe lefL of Lhe lllusLraLlon below) ln conLrasL a black hole
LhaL ls splnnlng has aLoms orblLlng closer uaLa from x1L !1630300 (lmage on Lhe rlghL)
observes more xrays wlLh low energy lndlcaLlng LhaL Lhey come from as close as 20 mlles from
Lhe evenL horlzon from whaL ls called Lhe gravlLaLlonal well 1he concluslon from Lhls
observaLlon ls LhaL x1L !1630300 ls splnnlng
lmbsweller 9


CredlL lllusLraLlon nASA/CxC/MWelss SpecLra nASA/CxC/SAC/!Mlller eL al

lL has also been concluded from observaLlon LhaL Cx 3394 a Lhlrd black hole whlch also has
warm gas clouds flowlng away from lL aL hlgh speeds ls splnnlng rapldly 1hese flndlngs are
relevanL as Lhey polnL Lowards Lhe slmllarlLy beLween sLellar black holes and supermasslve black
holes whlch show some of Lhe same characLerlsLlcs Lhey also spln rapldly have masslve gas
flows and produce hlghenergy [eLs
21

Whlle Lhere ls wellesLabllshed evldence for boLh sLellar black holes and supermasslve
black holes (whlch are noL dlscussed here) Lhe newesL research ls dlrecLed Lowards
lnLermedlaLeslzed black holes
22
Accordlng Lo 8lchard 1alcoLL's May 2010 arLlcle ln sttooomy
an lnLermedlaLeslzed black hole has been caughL ln Lhe acL" of shreddlng a sLar lL ls supposed
Lo be locaLed ln a globular clusLer ln Lhe elllpLlcal galaxy nCC1399 ca 63 mllllon llghLyears from
LarLh 1hese lnLermedlaLe slzed ob[ecLs are esLlmaLed Lo have 100 Lo 10000 solar masses
compared wlLh less Lhan 23 for sLellar slzed and over 100000 for supermasslve black holes
CbservaLlons from Lhe globular clusLer ln nCC 1399 have ylelded radlaLlon paLLerns lndlcaLlng
lmbsweller 10

emlsslons from an accreLlon dlsk and radlaLlon presumed Lo be from Lhe shredded sLar's
remnanLs
23

luLure research wlll lnclude daLa from Lhe planned SlM LlLe AsLromeLrlc CbservaLory
whlch wlll be able Lo poslLlon ob[ecLs ln space wlLhln Lwo mlcroarcseconds 1he comparlson
beLween xray lumlnoslLles of neuLron sLars and black holes wlll be furLher advanced Lhrough
SlM LlLe's exacL dlsLance measuremenLs AsLronomers also predlcL Lo be able Lo deLermlne Lhe
exacL blnary lncllnaLlon of sysLems llke Cygnus x1 allowlng concluslons regardlng Lhe lncllnaLlon
of Lhe accreLlon dlsk whlch Lhen would conLrlbuLe Lowards flndlng Lhe shape of Lhe lnnermosL
sLable clrcular orblL" (lSCC) Lhe deLermlnaLlon of whlch has prevlously been aLLempLed by
measurlng Lhe lron emlsslons
24

1he sLory of Cygnus x1 lllumlnaLes Lhe process of sclenLlflc research As klp 1horne
remlnds us ln hls book lock noles ooJ 1lme wotps Lhe evldence LhaL Lhls ls Lhe naLure of Cyg
x1 was noL developed easlly lL requlred a cooperaLlve masslve worldwlde efforL carrled ouL ln
Lhe 1960s and 1970s by hundreds of experlmenLal physlclsLs LheoreLlcal asLrophyslclsLs and
observaLlonal asLronomers"
23
Accordlng Lo hls esLlmaLe Lhe confldence level of ldenLlfylng
Cygnus x1 as a black hole rose from 80 ln 1974 Lo 93 ln 1994 Whlle Lhe examples of
evldence dlscussed above have been gaLhered slnce Lhen wlLh Lhe use of advanclng Lechnology
Lhere ls no absoluLe cerLalnLy as long as Lhe laLesL flndlngs are prellmlnary such as !oseph
uolan's daLa ConflrmaLlon by furLher research ls necessary Accordlng Lo uolan lf we were
Lrylng Lo convlcL Cygnus x81 of belng a black hole ln courL we'd wln a clvll case LhaL only needs
a preponderance of Lhe evldence buL noL a crlmlnal case LhaL requlres beyond a reasonable
doubL llndlng an evenL horlzon would puL Lhe evldence beyond a reasonable doubL"
26

lmbsweller 11



1
Pawklng SLephen 1be uolvetse lo o Notsbell new ?ork 8anLam 2001
2
Creene 8rlan 1be leqoot uolvetse new ?ork vlnLage 2000 p80
3
Culp krlsLlne 1he roof ls CuL 1here" uolvetslty of 1otooto Moqozloe AuLumn 2002
hLLp//wwwmagazlneuLoronLoca/feaLure/asLrophyslcsLombolLonblackholesresearch/
4
8olLon C1 ldenLlflcaLlon of Cygnus x1 wlLh PuL 226868" Notote 245 27127J
3
hLLp//chandraharvardedu/abouL/
6
lronClad" evldence for splnnlng black hole" nASA SepL 2003
hLLp//chandraharvardedu/press/03_releases/press_091703hLml
7
CuesL Cbserver laclllLy 8ossl x8ay 1lmlng Lxplorer (8x1L) uecember 1993 nASA
hLLp//heasarcgsfcnasagov/docs/xLe/x1LhLml

8
1hompson uave 8x1L neuLron sLars and black holes"nASA 2003
hLLp//wwwgsfcnasagov/sclencesqusL2003/20060120hLml
9
lbld
10
vanlshlng gas conflrms black hole evenL horlzons"
hLLp//wwwspacecom/sclenceasLronomy/060109_evenL_horlzonhLml
11
8rlLL 8oberL osslble llrsL ulrecL Lvldence 1haL 8lack Poles LxlsL#
hLLp//wwwspacecom/sclenceasLronomy/asLronomy/deaLh_splral_010111hLml
12
8lack Poles" nASA hLLp//lmaglnegsfcnasagov/docs/sclence/know_12/black_holeshLml
13
Axelsson Magnus 8apld xray varlablllLy ln Cygnus x1" ln Cool ulscs not llows 1be votyloq loces of cctetloq
compoct Objects Ld Axelsson Amerlcan lnsLlLuLe of hyslcs 2008
14
Space com
hLLp//wwwspacecom/php/mulLlmedla/lmagedlsplay/lmg_dlsplayphp?plch_deaLh_splral_explalner_02
[pgcapuolan27s+daLa2C+and+an+arLlsL27s+renderlng+of+Lhe+maLLer+falllng+beyond+Lhe+evenL+
horlzon
lmbsweller 12


13
8rlLL 8 osslble flrsL evldence"
16
8lack Poles" nASA
17
unlverslLy of 1exas Mcuonal CbservaLory lock nole ocyclopeJlo 2009
hLLp//blackholessLardaLeorg/dlrecLory/facLsheeLphp?pA062000
hLLp//blackholessLardaLeorg/dlrecLory/facLsheeLpho?pv404Cygnl
18
lbld hLLp//blackholessLardaLeorg/dlrecLory/facLsheeLphp?px1L!1330364
19
x1L !1330364 Chandra Lracks evoluLlon of xray [eLs" nASA 2002
hLLp//chandraharvardedu/phoLo/2002/xLe[1330/
20
krdlng Llmar eLal A LranslenL radlo [eL ln an erupLlng dwarf nova" arxlvorg Cornell unlverslLy Llbrary 2008
hLLp//arxlvorg/fLp/arxlv/papers/0806/08061002pdf
21
lronClad" evldence for splnnlng black hole" nASA 2003
hLLp//chandraharvardedu/press/03_releases/press_091703hLml
22
Safonova MargarlLa eLal LxLrapolaLlng SM8P correlaLlons down Lhe mass scale Lhe case for lM8Ps ln globular
clusLers sttopbyslcs 5poce 5cleoce !an 2010 3231 4738 L8SCC CC Llbrary uunwoody (absLracL
only)
23
1alcoLL 8lchard A black hole caughL ln Lhe acL" sttooomy May 2010 383 L8SCC CC Llbrary uunwoody
Accessed 17 Aprll 2010
24
1omslck !ohn eLal 8lack Poles and neuLron SLars" 5lM llte ook nASA Callfornla lnsLlLuLe of 1echnology
2009 hLLp//slm[plnasagov/keyubapers/slm8ook2009/
23
1horpe klp lock noles ooJ 1lme wotps new ?ork norLon 1994
26
8rlLL 8 osslble flrsL evldence"