Nota de prensa
QUÁSARES MUESTRAN SUS VERDADEROS COLORES
23 de Julio de 2008
Un artículo publicado en la revista Nature, presenta evidencias inéditas sobre la intensa radiación emanada de los discos de acreción de los quásares. Observaciones realizadas con el VLT de ESO en Paranal (Chile), permitieron revelar los verdaderos colores de estos discos, capaces de emitir hasta tres mil millones de veces más energía que nuestro Sol.
“Los astrónomos estaban confundidos porque los mejores modelos de estos discos no coincidían con algunas de las observaciones, particularmente con el hecho de que estos discos no aparecían tan azules como se esperaba”, explica el autor principal Makoto Kishimoto.
Tal discrepancia podría indicar que algo andaba muy mal con los modelos. Kishimoto investigó el tema junto a sus colegas, estudiando la luz polarizada de seis quásares.
La polarimetría funciona de la siguiente manera: la luz está compuesta por ondas electromagnéticas que oscilan en cualquier dirección. La reflexión o dispersión de la luz favorece que los campos electromagnéticos oscilen en una dirección determinada, y esto explica por qué los lentes polarizados pueden filtrar el brillo de los rayos solares que se reflejan, por ejemplo, en una laguna.
Usando este principio, los astrónomos pudieron demostrar que el espectro del disco resultaba tan azul como predecían los modelos.
“La dificultad observacional más importante ha sido que el disco está rodeado por un toro (o cinturón) de polvo caliente, cuya luz en parte eclipsa a la del disco”, señala Kishimoto. “Debido a que la luz del disco se dispersa en su inmediaciones y por tanto se polariza, al observar solo la luz polarizada de los quásares, se puede revelar la luz oculta del disco”.
Estas observaciones fueron realizadas con los instrumentos FORS e ISAAC que operan en uno de los telescopios de 8.2 metros del Very Large Telescope de ESO en Cerro Paranal (Chile), así como otros telescopios.
La imagen normal del disco de acreción es por tanto reivindicada. Los autores creen que las futuras mediciones podrían proveer valiosa información sobre cómo y dónde termina el disco.
El artículo titulado “El espectro azul característico de los discos de acrecimiento de los quásares revelados por el infrarrojo” por Makoto Kishimoto et al., aparece publicado en la edición del 24 de Julio de 2008 en la revista Nature. El equipo está conformado por Makoto Kishimoto (Instituto Max Planck de Radioastronomía, Bonn, Alemania), Robert Antonucci, Omer Blaes, y Christian Leipski (Universidad of California, Santa Bárbara, Estados Unidos), Andy Lawrence (SUPA, Universidad de Edimburgo, Gran Bretaña), Catherine Boisson (LUTH, Observatorio de París, Francia), y Marcus Albrecht (profesor adjunto Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile).
Contactos
Makoto Kishimoto
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie
Bonn, Germany
Teléfono: +49 228 525 186
Correo electrónico: mk@mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
Francisco Rodríguez (Contacto para medios de comunicación en Chile)
Red de Difusión Científica de ESO
y European Southern Observatory
Teléfono: +56-2-463-3151
Correo electrónico: eson-chile@eso.org
Acerca de la nota de prensa
| Nota de prensa No.: | eso0821es-cl |
| Legacy ID: | PR 21/08 |
| Nombre: | Quasar |
| Tipo: | Unspecified : Galaxy : Activity : AGN : Quasar |
| Facility: | Very Large Telescope |
| Instruments: | FORS1, ISAAC |
| Science data: | 2008Natur.454..492K |
Imágenes
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