Astronomers Detect Sudden Awakening of Black Hole For First Time (theguardian.com) 20
Astronomers are observing the sudden awakening of a giant black hole in the constellation of Virgo. "Decades of observations found nothing remarkable about the distant galaxy in the constellation of Virgo, but that changed at the end of 2019 when astronomers noticed a dramatic surge in its luminosity that persists to this day," reports The Guardian. "Researchers now believe they are witnessing changes that have never been seen before, with the black hole at the galaxy's core putting on an extreme cosmic light show as vast amounts of material fall into it." From the report: The galaxy, which goes by the snappy codename SDSS1335+0728 and lies 300m light years away, was flagged to astronomers in December 2019 when an observatory in California called the Zwicky Transient Facility recorded a sudden rise in its brightness. The alert prompted a flurry of new observations and checks of archived measurements from ground- and space-based telescopes to understand more about the galaxy and its past behavior.
The scientists discovered the galaxy had recently doubled in brightness in mid-infrared wavelengths, become four times brighter in the ultraviolet, and at least 10 times brighter in the X-ray range. What triggered the sudden brightening is unclear, but writing in Astronomy and Astrophysics, the researchers say the most likely explanation is the creation of an "active galactic nucleus" where a vast black hole at the centre of a galaxy starts actively consuming the material around it.
Active galactic nuclei emit a broad spectrum of light as gas around the black hole heats up and glows, and surrounding dust particles absorb some wavelengths and re-radiate others. But it is not the only possibility. The team has not ruled out an exotic form of "tidal disruption event," a highly restrained phrase to describe a star that is ripped apart after straying too close to a black hole. Tidal disruption events tend to be brief affairs, brightening a galaxy for no more than a few hundred days, but more measurements are needed to rule out the process.
The scientists discovered the galaxy had recently doubled in brightness in mid-infrared wavelengths, become four times brighter in the ultraviolet, and at least 10 times brighter in the X-ray range. What triggered the sudden brightening is unclear, but writing in Astronomy and Astrophysics, the researchers say the most likely explanation is the creation of an "active galactic nucleus" where a vast black hole at the centre of a galaxy starts actively consuming the material around it.
Active galactic nuclei emit a broad spectrum of light as gas around the black hole heats up and glows, and surrounding dust particles absorb some wavelengths and re-radiate others. But it is not the only possibility. The team has not ruled out an exotic form of "tidal disruption event," a highly restrained phrase to describe a star that is ripped apart after straying too close to a black hole. Tidal disruption events tend to be brief affairs, brightening a galaxy for no more than a few hundred days, but more measurements are needed to rule out the process.
Warned you (Score:5, Funny)
I told you guys to stop fucking with it, but no you kept prodding it with Hubble, jWST, and sending the Voyager probe up its ass. What did you think would happen?
The Sudden Awakening of SDSS1335+0728 (Score:3)
Almost sounds like something you'd see on the Hallmark Channel.
Doctor Krieger says (Score:3)
You maniacs!
You woke it!!
YOU WOKE IT!
G**damn you!
G**damn you all to HELL
Re: Doctor Krieger says (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
When a Black Hole is Woke, it's the rest of us that are illuminated.
You, too, will see the light. A very bright light...
Re: (Score:1)
Newsflash (Score:1)
Virgo discovers black hole, puts on show.
Re: (Score:2)
Are you sure it isn't aliens? (Score:2)
Tagged with SUN logo (Score:3)
Re: Tagged with SUN logo (Score:2)
I guess it's now the unofficial logo for the actual Sun. I still have a Netra T1 in storage, but it should probably be thrown into the Sun.
Late to the party (Score:2)
and we just find out... umm... 5 years ago?
Re: Late to the party (Score:2)
Re: Late to the party (Score:2)
People are saying that Relatively is very unfair.
giant black hole in the constellation of Virgo. (Score:2)
Its 300 million light years away from the stars that make up Virgo.
Oh crap. (Score:2)
We have just discovered the location of Ryleh
Re: (Score:2)
Then isn't this good news, finding out they're 300 million light years away? Either they already knew to check up on this planet, in which case we have no idea when they'll arrive, or it will take at least 600 million years before we have to worry about a response: 300 million for our noise to reach them, and a minimum of 300 million years to send anything back at us.