What are black holes?
A black hole is the universe's darkest and blackest object. It has tremendous gravity and swallows up anything that comes too close to it. Not even light can escape it.
A black hole is formed when a huge star (many times the size of our sun) dies, resulting in an explosion known as a supernova. Sagittarius A* (pronounced Sagittarius A Star) is a black hole located in the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers have recently noticed something interesting about a black hole.
What have astronomers noticed?
In October 2018, a small star was torn apart by a black hole in a galaxy 665 million light years away from Earth. It is a common occurrence that astronomers are not surprised by. However, they found that the same black hole is once again lighting up the sky, even though it hasn't swallowed anything new (interesting, no?).
Astronomers found that the black hole is spewing out stellar remains years after it tore apart a star. Astronomers have never experienced anything like this, so they were completely surprised. So, a team of researchers is studying it.
When did the astronomers notice this?
The research team discovered this when looking at tidal disruption events (TDEs). TDE, in simple words, means when stars are shredded by black holes. The black hole was reanimated in June 2021, according to radio data from the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico, United States of America (USA).
Some material from black holes is thrown into space. However, this occurs shortly after a TDE. So, this event happening years after the TDE has fascinated researchers.
What can researchers learn from this?
This occurrence will help scientists better understand black hole behaviour patterns. Scientists will be able to study them thoroughly. The more we learn about black holes, the closer we will be to understanding the secrets of the universe.
Do you find black holes interesting? Tell us in the comments below!
