Since the first observations of the deep universe, certain celestial phenomena have fascinated as much as they confuse. Among them, certain extreme objects redraw the contours of our cosmic understanding. This is precisely the case of the Blazar PKS 1424+240, whose striking appearance and energy power raise new questions about the forces involved in the observable universe.
This type of object is distinguished from quasars by a particular characteristic. One of his material jets is almost directly oriented towards the earth. In the case of PKS 1424+240, this jet is visible from our planet with an angle of only 0.3 degrees compared to our line of view. This unique configuration generates a relativistic magnifying glass effect which artificially accentuates its apparent brightness.
It is thanks to an accumulation of 15 years of observations made by the VLBA radio-interferometric network that the researchers were able to recompose a high resolution image of this cosmic jet. As Yuri Kovalev said, manager of the Muses project within the Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy, the cliché reveals an almost perfect toroidal magnetic structure, crossed by a flow of plasma spinning at speeds close to that of light.
© Yy Kovalev et al.The Jet of the Blazar PKS 1424+240 seen from the front, revealing an almost perfect magnetic ring structure. This composite image, obtained after 15 years of radio observations, reveals a rare configuration oriented almost exactly towards the earth.
The Blazar PKS 1424+240 redefines the celestial powers
The spectacular aspect of PKS 1424+240 is not only visual, as Space.com points out. This Blazar is also established as one of the most powerful source known to very high energy gamma rays and cosmic neutrinos, these ghostly particles capable of crossing matter without interacting with it. The Icecube Neutrino Observatory, installed under the ice of the South Pole, is at the origin of the first identification of this Blazar, thanks to a significant excess of neutrinos detected in its direction.
This extreme radiation poses an old enigma, known as “Doppler factor crisis”. The relativistic jets observed on radio do not seem to move at speeds high enough to explain gamma and neutrinos emissions detected with very high energy. But the particular configuration of PKS 1424+240 resolves this paradox. According to the researchers, the illusion of a slow movement is caused by a projection effect. The jet actually moves at a dizzying speed, but its almost frontal orientation artificially reduces its apparent speed.
The publication of the study in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters thus confirms that relativist doping plays a decisive role in the extreme shine of the Blazar. Jack Livingston, co -author and member of the same institute, specifies that this orientation boosts the brightness observed by a factor of 30, while facilitating the detection of associated neutrinos.
Neutrinos, gamma and heavy particles in ambush
The implications of this discovery far exceed the framework of cosmic imaging. They reinforce the idea that certain active galactic nuclei, and in particular those whose jets point to our direction, act as real accelerators of natural particles. Not content with propeling electrons at high speed, these objects now also accelerate protons, which opens the way to the production of extreme energy neutrinos, such as those detected Icecube.
According to the analyzes carried out by researchers, the magnetic structure of the jet plays a central role. The toric magnetic field observed could channel and accelerate matter in a way similar to terrestrial experimental devices, but on a cosmic scale. This phenomenon is crucial to explain the generation of very high energy neutrinos.
These results also consolidate the foundations of the multi astronomical messaging, an approach that combines optical data, radio, gamma and neutrinos to obtain a more complete vision of the universe. As the Max Planck Institute recalls, the Mojave project, which made it possible to accumulate the observations of the Blazar, aims precisely to decipher the interactions between relativistic jets, magnetic fields and high energy particles.
The study of PKS 1424+240 could well mark a new step in this quest, by offering a natural laboratory to test the theoretical models on cosmic accelerators and the origin of the most enigmatic particles in the universe.
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