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It means not the creation of a black hole (like I initially thought), but an activity by the hole to blast out gas and energy. "In late 2019 the previously unr
by lukan 2y ago
It means not the creation of a black hole (like I initially thought), but an activity by the hole to blast out gas and energy.
"In late 2019 the previously unremarkable galaxy SDSS1335+0728 suddenly started shining brighter than ever before. To understand why, astronomers have used data from several space and ground-based observatories, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), to track how the galaxy’s brightness has varied. In a study out today, they conclude that they are witnessing changes never seen before in a galaxy — likely the result of the sudden awakening of the massive black hole at its core."
"Follow-up observations are still needed to rule out alternative explanations. Another possibility is that we are seeing an unusually slow tidal disruption event, or even a new phenomenon"
- logtempo 2y agoI guess "black hole awaken" is a more attractive headline than "black hole fart" ! It's really cool to see that we have so much instruments, we can actually monitor (a very small part) of the universe activity.
- q1w2 2y agoA more correct title is "Galaxy brightens and scientists suspect it might be due to the galaxy's black hole" There is no direct evidence the black hole is doing anything - it's just the only theory we have.
- johnnyanmac 2y agoI mean, when you put it that way black holes as a whole are a mere theory. A theory used to explain gravitational fluctuations and the odd lack of mass in the universe (which still wasn't fully solved and are currently dabbling with dark matter to further fine tune results).
- shiroiushi 2y agoExcept we've actually photographed a black hole: https://science.nasa.gov/resource/first-image-of-a-black-hole/ https://science.nasa.gov/resource/first-image-of-a-black-hol...
- AdmiralAsshat 2y ago[flagged]
- prewett 2y ago> It means not the creation of a black hole (like I initially thought), There was a candidate for a stellar collapse to a black hole a few years ago: https://www.livescience.com/disappearing-star-black-hole-no-supernova.html https://www.livescience.com/disappearing-star-black-hole-no-... Unfortunately it's in a galaxy far, far away, so we couldn't see the star directly, we just saw a characteristic emission line disappear without a corresponding supernova. Given that it seemed like a large star, one possibility is direct core-collapse.
- shiroiushi 2y ago>Unfortunately it's in a galaxy far, far away, so we couldn't see the star directly, we just saw a characteristic emission line disappear without a corresponding supernova. Given that it seemed like a large star, one possibility is direct core-collapse. It sounds like the Galactic Empire has a new super-weapon that can destroy an entire star system by causing the core to collapse into a black hole.
- suzzer99 2y agoYeah the wording in this article is really vague and silly. "Transitioning from dormant to actively feeding" would be a lot more accurate than "awakening".
- deafpolygon 2y agoThe end of days are coming! Joking aside, all of this is just inferences. They don't actually know what's going on. For all we know, it could be an alien species turning the attic light on.