Some of the most mysterious, evocative and least understood elements of our universe are black holes. Studied for years, but only photographed for the first time as recently as 2019, black holes are essentially areas in space where the gravity is so strong nothing, not even light, can escape.

One 糖心原创er is the only UK-based astronomer awarded 'observations' from a new space-based observatory developed by NASA and the Japanese Space Agency. Dr Helen Russell has been awarded almost £1 million from the Leverhulme Trust to fund her new research, which she sheds some light on with us.

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An image of a black hole

"Supermassive black holes weigh a million to several billion times the mass of our sun and are thought to lie at the heart of every galaxy, including the Milky Way. Their immense gravitational pull bends light, shreds stars and strips gas from the surroundings. Long before this debris reaches the point of no return (the event horizon), it is drawn into an encircling, swirling disk around the black hole and can be launched off the upper and lower surfaces in twin jets of particles. At close to the speed of light, these jets are fast enough and far enough from the black hole to escape its gravitational pull.

"These jetted outbursts, collectively known as 'feedback', are incredibly powerful. If efficiently harnessed into driving vast gas flows, feedback would starve the entire surrounding galaxy of fuel for star formation. This could explain the dramatic slow down of galaxy growth observed in the universe around us.

"Built and operated jointly by NASA, the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) and the European Space Agency (ESA), the new XRISM satellite is now revealing the vast gas flows driven by feedback. XRISM carries the most advanced X-ray spectrometer ever flown and can measure hot gas motions with unprecedented precision."

Above: Learn more about the XRISM satellite and how X-rays are used to discover the deepest secrets of the universe.

"I am the only UK-based astronomer awarded observations in XRISM's first call for science programs, with 1/6th of ESA's total time. With a wealth of transformative data arriving, my Leverhulme Research Leadership Award will allow me to rapidly assemble a team to analyse the observations. We will map hot gas flows driven by feedback, determine how the injected energy is dissipated and whether the impact scales with jet power.

"Beyond XRISM, next generation X-ray telescope AXIS (Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite) will enable us to pursue the origins of feedback across cosmic time. AXIS is one of two US$1 billion Probe Missions selected by NASA in 2024 for development. With sharp imaging and a dramatic expansion in sensitivity, AXIS will reveal the origin of supermassive black holes and the rise of feedback across the galaxy population.

"I have been a core member of the AXIS team since its inception and I led the development of AXIS's feedback science program, which forms one of three science pillars. In the lead up to launch, my team develop the optimal observing strategies and analysis tools to deliver AXIS's `further, wider, faster' view of feedback."