A supermassive black hole is 300 million light-years away. This black hole is causing confusion for scientists.
It is at the center of a galaxy called SDSS1335+0728. Since 2019, researchers have watched it wake up from sleep. Now, it is shining brightly and creating bursts of light.
This behavior is normal for supermassive black holes, but this one, called Ansky, is very strange. “The bursts of X-rays from Ansky are much brighter and last longer than what we usually see,” says astrophysicist Joheen Chakraborty from MIT.
Typically, black holes can be active or quiet. They can switch between these two states. Ansky is the first black hole seen waking up in real-time.
“Studying Ansky will help us understand black holes better,” says astronomer Lorena Hernández-García from Chile.
The light from Ansky is bright across many types of light, like infrared and X-rays. This is exciting, but we need more data.
Vocabulary List:
- Supermassive /ˌsuː.pərˈmæs.ɪv/ (adjective): Referring to a black hole with a mass that is millions or billions of times that of the Sun.
- Galaxies /ˈɡæl.ə.kiz/ (noun): Large systems of stars gas and dust bound together by gravity.
- Bursts /bɜrst/ (noun): Sudden occurrences of something such as light or energy happening briefly and intensely.
- Astrophysicist /ˌæs.trəʊˈfɪz.ɪs.ɪst/ (noun): A scientist who studies the physical properties and processes of celestial bodies and the universe.
- Understanding /ˌʌn.dərˈstæn.dɪŋ/ (noun): The ability to comprehend or grasp the nature of a subject.
- Data /ˈdeɪ.tə/ (noun): Facts and statistics collected for reference or analysis.
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