Most galaxies are believed to have a supermassive black hole at their center.
Paris, France:
Astronomers have managed to observe a supermassive black hole awakening and igniting the heart of its host galaxy for the first time, the European Southern Observatory said Tuesday.
The galaxy 300 million light-years from Earth, in the constellation Virgo, was quiet for decades until the end of 2019, when it suddenly began to shine brighter than ever.
The center of the galaxy – where a supermassive black hole is believed to lie – has since radiated a variety of rays.
“This behavior is unprecedented,” said Paula Sanchez Saez, an astronomer at the European Southern Observatory and first author of a new study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, in a statement.
The “most tangible option” to explain this glow is that astronomers were observing “the activation of a massive black hole in real time,” said study co-author Lorena Hernandez Garcia.
Most galaxies – including our Milky Way – are believed to have a supermassive black hole at their center.
These cosmic giants are, by definition, invisible – not even light can escape the pull of their incredible power.
The only way to observe black holes is when they destroy something huge that emits light in its death throes: like a star that passed too close and was torn apart.
“These giant monsters are usually sleeping,” explained study co-author Claudio Ricci.
But for the galaxy SDSS1335+0728, “we were able to observe the awakening of the huge black hole, (which) suddenly began to feast on the gas available in its surroundings, becoming very bright,” the astrophysicist added.
Initial observations indicate that the black hole is 1.5 million times more massive than the Sun, enough to be classified as a supermassive black hole.
But it’s still on the lighter side, as true heavy hitters easily exceed a billion times the mass of the Sun.
The international team of astronomers is analyzing data from several telescopes in hopes of determining whether the black hole’s activity is temporary – perhaps caused by the destruction of a star – or whether it will remain active for a long time.
“This is something that could also happen with our own Sgr A*,” the supermassive black hole in the Milky Way, said Hernandez Garcia.
But fortunately for us, our own black hole remains soundly asleep.
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