High-speed crashes between asteroids and planets may be responsible for doughnut-shaped dust clouds that veil about 50 percent of known supermassive black holes.
This so-called zodiacal dust is found in our own solar system and is produced by collisions between celestial bodies like comets and asteroids.
Supermassive black holes are located at the heart of most galaxies where such rocky objects would also be found with frequent rapid collisions breaking the objects down into microscopic dust.
“Too bad for life on these planets, but on the other hand the dust created in this way blocks much of the harmful radiation from reaching the rest of the host galaxy,” said Sergei Nayakshin at the University of Leicester in a press release.
“This in turn may make it easier for life to prosper elsewhere in the rest of the central region of the galaxy.”
Revealing the source of this dust may also help explain how black holes grow and affect their host galaxies.
“We suspect that the supermassive black hole in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, expelled most of the gas that would otherwise turn into more stars and planets,” Nayakshin said.
“Understanding the origin of the dust in the inner regions of galaxies would take us one step closer to solving the mystery of the supermassive black holes.”
These findings will be published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
This so-called zodiacal dust is found in our own solar system and is produced by collisions between celestial bodies like comets and asteroids.
Supermassive black holes are located at the heart of most galaxies where such rocky objects would also be found with frequent rapid collisions breaking the objects down into microscopic dust.
“Too bad for life on these planets, but on the other hand the dust created in this way blocks much of the harmful radiation from reaching the rest of the host galaxy,” said Sergei Nayakshin at the University of Leicester in a press release.
“This in turn may make it easier for life to prosper elsewhere in the rest of the central region of the galaxy.”
Revealing the source of this dust may also help explain how black holes grow and affect their host galaxies.
“We suspect that the supermassive black hole in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, expelled most of the gas that would otherwise turn into more stars and planets,” Nayakshin said.
“Understanding the origin of the dust in the inner regions of galaxies would take us one step closer to solving the mystery of the supermassive black holes.”
These findings will be published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
