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It is said that a black hole in the center of the galaxy suddenly shines 75 times brighter than usual. Astronomers point out that this is an unprecedented event.
Black holes are celestial bodies that cannot emit light at all. However, the energy emitted by the material being dragged into the black hole can be observed with infrared rays and X-rays to determine its appearance. For the first time in April, the event horizon image of a black hole was taken from observational data from 2006 to 10 years.
In the midst of this, the UCLA astronomy team observed the center of the galaxy and succeeded in accidentally catching the black hole 75 times brighter than normal for two and a half hours.
Here’s a timelapse of images over 2.5 hr from May from @keckobservatory of the supermassive black hole Sgr A*. The black hole is always variable, but this was the brightest we’ve seen in the infrared so far. It was probably even brighter before we started observing that night! pic.twitter.com/MwXioZ7twV
— Tuan Do (@quantumpenguin) August 11, 2019
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This observation is a supermassive black hole in Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) in the center of the galaxy. Its mass is 4.6 million times that of the Sun and its distance from Earth is close, so it is also the next target of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a project that captures the appearance of black holes.
What the research team actually observed is infrared rays emitted by interstellar matter sucked into Sagittarius A*. Even now, changes in the emission energy and sudden energy emission such as black hole flare have been confirmed here. However, the energy peak observed this time is twice as high as the previous observation. Sagittarius A* is said to have never been so bright.
The black hole was shining so brightly that the team initially mistaken it for observing the nearby star S0-2 instead of Sagittarius A*. However, it is said that he immediately realized that it was Sagittarius A* because the observed data showed an energy change that could not be considered a star.
The reason Sagittarius A* has made such a dramatic change is completely unknown. However, the research team estimates that this is because celestial bodies such as S0-2 changed the flow of gas flowing through Sagittarius A*, and mass material was supplied to the black hole in a short period of time. Related information can be found here.
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