Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute Collaborates with International Research Team to Verify Distance and Weight
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] An international public research team, including the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), has revealed the location, mass, and identity of the first black hole ever discovered by humanity, the 'Cygnus X-1 black hole.'
According to the Astronomy Institute on the 19th, the international joint research team measured the precise location of the Cygnus X-1 black hole using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), which connects 10 radio telescopes. As a result, it was confirmed that the Cygnus X-1 black hole is farther away than previously known and is a heavier black hole.
The international joint research team observed radio signals emitted from the Cygnus X-1 black hole using the VLBA and derived these research results through triangulation, a method that precisely measures the positions of celestial bodies at great distances from Earth. The distance from Earth to the Cygnus X-1 black hole was found to be about 7,200 light-years, farther than the previously known approximately 6,100 light-years, and the black hole's mass was confirmed to be 21 times that of the Sun, about 50% heavier than previously known.
Professor James Miller-Jones of Curtin University, Australia, who led this research, said, "Through this observation, we learned that the Cygnus X-1 black hole is farther away and heavier than previously hypothesized," adding, "This will serve as new evidence to illuminate the formation and growth processes of how massive stars evolve into black holes."
Professor Ilia Mandel of Monash University, Australia, also explained, "The fact that the Cygnus X-1 black hole is a star much heavier than previously hypothesized means that mass loss due to stellar winds during the star's evolution was relatively less," and "The Cygnus X-1 black hole likely formed tens of thousands of years ago from the gravitational collapse of a massive star about 60 times the mass of the Sun."
In this study, KASI contributed to devising a precise location measurement method for the Cygnus X-1 black hole using radio interferometry. Dr. Jeong Tae-hyun of KASI said, "In the future, we plan to continue black hole observation research, including Cygnus X-3, using the Korean VLBI Network (KVN), which is the only system in the world capable of simultaneously observing four frequency bands." These research results were published in the June 18 issue of the internationally renowned scientific journal Science.
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