Exploration of distant (and not so) space can shed light on the structure of our galaxy and even the entire universe. Every day, scientists from all over the world observe celestial bodies and galaxies and very often these efforts are rewarded. And now it became known that literally “near our side”, right in the Milky Way, a powerful source of gamma radiation was discovered. Upon closer examination, it turned out that it was emitted by a rather unique microquasar.
Microquasars are binary star systems made up of two components: an ordinary star and a neutron star or black hole. An ordinary star in such systems is gravitationally bound to the first object and moves around it in its orbit. In this case, the substances and elements of the star, due to strong gravity, move into the region of a "stronger" object. This creates a burst of energy. In fact, microquasars are the same quasars, only the latter, as a rule, have a supermassive black hole at their center.
According to the editors of the journal Nature, a group of researchers from the University of Michigan, studying distant parts of the Milky Way, at a distance of 15 light-years from Earth, discovered the above-described object, called SS 433. The object attracted the attention of scientists due to unusual gamma radiation. It turned out to be 25 trillion times more powerful than the radiation of our Sun. The uniqueness of SS 433 also lies in the fact that all currently known flares of quasars and microquasars are directed towards the Earth, but SS 433 tempts them as if "at an angle", which allows you to get more data.
HAWS (High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory). It was from here that the radiation of the microquasar SS 433 was recorded.
Scientists have suggested that matter from the star forms an accretion disk at the surface of the black hole, which periodically causes powerful bursts of energy. Experts now hope that new data can shed light on the physical processes taking place in quasars and microquasars.
