Astronomers are tracking an unusual event 665 million light-years away: a supermassive black hole continuing to emit intense radiation years after consuming a star.The prolonged and energetic outburst, described in a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, is exceeding previous observations of such phenomena and offering scientists a rare opportunity to study the aftermath of a stellar disruption.Researchers say the black hole is currently 50 times brighter than when first detected and shows no signs of slowing down.
Scientists are observing a supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy, roughly 665 million light-years from Earth, as it continues to eject material following the disruption of a star that ventured too close. This ongoing activity provides a unique opportunity to study the extreme physics at play around these cosmic phenomena.
What makes this event particularly unusual is the intensity and duration of the material being expelled after the celestial body was consumed. Researchers say the black hole is exhibiting an unusually prolonged and energetic outburst.
The remaining stellar debris didn’t begin to stream into space until two years after being torn apart by the black hole’s gravitational forces. However, this outflow has persisted for six years, exceeding the duration of any previously observed similar event. The extended emission suggests a complex interaction between the black hole and the remnants of the star.
“The steady increase in brightness of this source is unprecedented,” said Evette Lund, an astrophysicist at the University of Oregon. “It’s now about 50 times brighter than when we first discovered it, and it’s incredibly luminous in radio waves.”
Lund, the lead author of a study published Thursday in the scientific journal Astrophysical Journal, added, “This has been going on for years, and there’s no indication it’s going to stop. That’s very unusual.”
Black holes are incredibly dense objects with gravitational pulls so strong that not even light can escape. Understanding their behavior is crucial to understanding the evolution of galaxies.
The black hole in question has a mass approximately 5 million times that of our Sun, making it comparable in size to the supermassive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, which is about 4 million solar masses.
The ill-fated star was a red dwarf, with a mass roughly one-tenth that of the Sun.
Researchers are now focused on determining how long this ejection of material will continue to intensify. They predict it could peak later this year or next year.
A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, equivalent to 9.5 trillion kilometers.
