Forbes

Scientists Watch The Sudden Awakening Of A Massive Black Hole

Guardian

Astronomers detect sudden awakening of black hole 1m times mass of sun

Newsweek

Black Hole Awakening Observed for First Time

Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) say they've observed the gradual illumination of a black hole 1M times larger than the sun located 300M lightyears away.

BBC News

The black hole was first discovered by the an observatory in California, called the Zwicky Transient Facility, in 2019. It's located within the Virgo constellation of a distant galaxy, which was previously ignored for decades.

The ESO researchers said the galaxy has an active galactic nucleus powered by the black hole. While phenomena such as supernovas and incoming stars can brighten a galaxy for dozens or hundreds of days, the black hole has continuously powered this illumination for over four years.

Using tools including the X-shooter on ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), the scientists noticed the galaxy was emitting more light at ultraviolet, optical, and infrared wavelengths; they also observed X-ray emissions last February.

PHYS

They found that brightness had recently doubled in mid-infrared wavelengths, quadrupled in ultraviolet brightness, and increased by 10 times in X-ray range.

According to Chilean astronomer and research co-author Lorena Hernández García, this was the first-ever direct observation of a black hole awakening. Supermassive black holes, which are at least 100K times the mass of the sun, can be fond in most galaxies.

According to Chilean astronomer and research co-author Lorena Hernández García, this was the first-ever direct observation of a black hole awakening. Supermassive black holes, which are at least 100K times the mass of the sun, are found in most galaxies.

Astronomers Discover a Black Hole 'Waking Up'

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Astronomers Discover a Black Hole 'Waking Up'

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