UNICORNSANDCYCLOPSOFCOSMICZOO PatrickDasGupta DepartmentofPhysicsandAstrophysics, UniversityofDelhi,Delhi110007

IntheInternationalYearof Astronomy,2009,let'shavea notsocloseencounterwith someofthefascinating creaturesofthecosmic menagerie.Humanbeings havealwayswondered aboutTwinkle,twinkle, little.youknowwhatI mean.Allstars,exceptSun (becauseitissonear), appearasbrightpointson thesky.Actuallyeachof them,likeSun,isahugeball ofhotgasin quasihydrostatic equilibrium.Howarethey born?Agiantgascloud, madepredominantlyof hydrogen,collapsingunder itsownweight,getsheated upduetothecompressionit suffersatthehandsofa mightypistoncalled selfgravity.Thepressure, andtherefore,the temperaturetaketheir highestinstantaneousvalues atthecentralcoreofthis gaseousball,andkeepon increasingwiththesphere's steadygravitational contraction.Whenthecore temperaturerisesabove10 milliondegreeKelvin,there beginsnuclearfusion reactioninthestellarcore aidedbythehighcentralgas density. Atsuchtemperatures,four protonscanovercometheir mutualelectrostatic repulsionbecauseoftheir largerandomkinetic energiestocomesoclose thattheattractiondueto nuclearforcetakesover. Thisnuclearaffinityconverts, ineffect,fourprotonsinto oneheliumnucleusandthe

resultingmassdefect appearsasradiation becauseofthecelebrated E=mc^2.Theliberatedfusion energynotonlyhaltsthe gravitationalcollapseofthe gaseousspherebutalso makesiteventuallyshine resplendently.Astarisborn! AstarliketheSunemits about10^33ergsofenergy everysecond.Itwasonlyin thebeginningofthe twentiethcenturydid astronomersrealizethatthe sourcesofsuchhigh luminositiesareessentially poweredbynuclearfusion.It isfamouslysaidthatwhena certainladylookingupatthe skyexclaimedecstatically, Are'ntthestarstonightso brightandbeautiful!,the astrophysicistArthur Eddingtonremarked,Very true,madam.OnlyIhappen toknow,atthemoment, whatmakesthemso luminousandattractive. Thestarsarenotisolated systemsintheuniverse.They arefoundinbigger structurescalledgalaxies. Oursolarsystemishurtling aroundthecentreofaspiral galaxycalledMilkyWaywith aspeedofabout220km/s.A galaxyisaselfgravitating systemconsistingof10^9 10^13stars,gasanddark mattermovinginthe gravitationalfieldcreatedby itself.Themotionofthe variouscomponentsofthe galaxykeepsitofffroma totalgravitationalcollapse. OurMilkyWaygalaxyhas about10^11starsmovingin thegalacticgravitational field.TheAndromedagalaxy withitsspiralarmsisa gravitationallyboundentity lying2millionlightyears awayfromus.Galaxiesare indeedseparatedby enormousdistances. Whilethestarsandgaseous

matteraremadeupof normalelements(mostly hydrogen),thedominant componentofanygalaxyis thesocalleddarkmatter. Westilldonotknowwhat thisdarkknightismadeup of.Sincetheydonotgiveout anyelectromagnetic radiation,itisdifficultto ascertaintheirnature.We infertheirpresenceonlyby theirmightygravitationaltug atthegalacticstarsandgas. Inatypicalgalaxy,thetotal amountofdarkmatter outweighsthelightemitting normalmatterbyafactorof 10ormore.Accordingtoour currentunderstanding,the darkmatterisdistributedin theformofaspheroidalhalo ofsizeofabout300,000light years,withtheoptically visiblegalaxyensconcedin thecentralregionofthis halo.Itisspeculatedthatthe darkmattercomponentis madeupofweakly interactingsupersymmetric particles. Galaxiescomeindifferent sizeandshape.Whilethe recentlydiscovereddwarf ellipticalsweighonlyabout 10^10timestheSuneach, therearegiganticcD ellipticalgalaxiesrulingthe centresofgalaxyclusters withvisiblemassmorethan 10^13timesthesolarmass. Ellipticalsarespheroidal distributionofstarsanddark matterwithrelativelylittle angularmomentum,and containingrelativelyless amountofgas.Spiral galaxies,ontheotherhand, havelargeamountofgas andyoungstarsswirling abouttheirgalacticcentres inadisclikeconfiguration thatcarriesthebulkofthe angularmomentum.Ina spiralgalaxy,thereare wavesofhighdensity regionsintheformofspiral armsthatsweepacrossthe galacticdisc.Thestar formationrateishigherin

thespiralarmsduetothis densitywave.Becauseof this,rapidlyformingyoung starsmakethespiralarms appearbrighterthantherest ofthegalaxy. ThediscofMilkyWay, consistingofstarsandgas movingincircularorbits aboutthegalacticcentre,is about2000lightyearsthick andhasadiameterofabout 80,000lightyears.Italsohas acentralbulge,wherethere isagreaterdensityofstars movinglikeaswarmofbees withoutmuchangular momentum.Thecentreof ourMilkyWayisanactive regionfromwhereveryhigh energyparticlesarebeing emitted.Astronomershave recentlytrackedthemotion ofsomestarsnearthe centre,andfindthatthey movefasterandhaveshorter orbitalperiods.Allthese observationsarebeing attributedtothepresenceof asupermassiveblackhole, withamassover3million timesthemassoftheSun, sittingatthegalacticcentre. Notonlythat,astronomers havealsostrongevidence fortheexistenceof supermassiveblackholes (massgreaterthanmillion timesthatofSun)atthe centreofthebulgeofmany spiralgalaxies.Heavierthe bulge,moremassiveisthe blackhole!Mostofthespiral galaxieswiththeirmajestic armsappearsobeautifulthat theyareliketheunicornsof thecosmos.Intheearly 1960s,MaartenSchmidt discoveredabrightstarlike pointsource,exceptthatit wasmorethan2000million lightyearsaway!Fromthe observedflux,theestimated luminosityturnsouttobe over10^45ergspersecond! Asthough,morethan10^12 starsareholedupinatiny region.

Manysuchobjectshave beendiscoveredsincethen. Theyarecalledquasistellar objectsorQSOs.Tenpercent ofsuchQSOsalsoradiate copiouslyintheradioregion oftheelectromagnetic spectrum.Thesearetermed asQSRsorquasars.What powersthesemonsters?The besttheoreticalmodelsthat successfullydescribethe workingsofQSOsand quasarsarethattheseare activegalacticnuclei consistingofsupermassive blackholesthataresteadily swallowingambientmatter. ThegalaxyhousingaQSOis liketheoneeyedCyclop withtheactivenucleusbeing theeye. Imagineagalaxywitha giganticcentralblackhole (BH).Starsandgaseous matterrotatearoundtheBH. Thegaseousmatter,dueto itsangularmomentum, cannotdirectlyfallintothe BHbutratherformsan accretiondiscaroundit,with eachtinygaseouselementof thediscmovinginacircular Keplerianorbitduetothe BH'sgravity.Fluidelements ofthediscfurtherawayfrom theBHhavelowerKeplerian speeds.Thedifferencein speedcausesviscous rubbingofadjacentfluid elements,becauseofwhich intenseheatisgenerated. Theaccretiondiscbecomes veryhotandradiates copiouslyinUVandXrays, outshiningrestofthegalaxy. Becauseofthehuge distance,wemakeoutonly theemissionfromthe accretiondiscthatappears tousasapointsource.Rest ofthegalaxyistoofaintto beseen.Pioneeringworks ontheearlygravitational accretionmodelsweredone byastrophysicistslikeBondi, LyndenBellandRees.

Themaximumenergythat canbeextractedfroma gaseouselementofthedisc isthedifferenceof gravitationalpotential energiesbetweenpoints whenitwasattheouter peripheryofthediscand finallywhenitwasclosestto BH(beforeitenteredthe eventhorizonandgoteaten upbytheBH).Thefateof anyfluidelementofthedisc islikethatoftheboatwhich eventuallygetssuckedinby theeyeofthewhirlpoolin EdgarAllanPoe'sstory Maelstrom.Itisultimatelythe gravitationalpotential energyofthegaseous elementsofthediscthat powersthecentralengineof aQSO.Theunicornsandthe Cylopsofouruniverse exhibitafascinating interplaybetween gravitationandtheother threeforcesofnature.Since gravityisalwaysattractive,it getscrownedasthe monarchoflargescales.