Black Hole Feeding Times Accurately Predicted by Astronomers
Revised Article:
Ever wondered when the next cosmic feast happens for a supermassive black hole, nearly a billion light-years away? Well, astronomers have got you covered!
This supermassive black hole, about 50 million times the size of our sun, dwells at the heart of a distant galaxy, approximately 860 million light-years from us. In 2018, this system made some headlines as the black hole tucked into a star that strayed too close to its gravitational maw. This event, known as a tidal disruption, caused the system to light up dramatically, catchable by several NASA telescopes.
A tidal disruption unleashes a brilliant spectacle, especially at X-ray and ultraviolet wavelengths, enabling observatories like the Chandra X-ray Observatory to spot them. The system continued to brighten in 2020, showing the survivor star was being gradually dismantled by the insatiable black hole. The team shared their findings in The Astrophysical Journal Letters in 2021, but Chandra's recent observations confirm the black hole's dining habits.
Dheeraj Pasham, an astrophysicist at MIT and the lead author of the research, recently shared that the black hole seemed to be wiping its cosmic chin after its last meal on August 14, 2023. The telescope observations revealed a decrease in X-rays, hinting at the end of its meal.
The team predicted another tidal disruption in August 2023, and it occurred as expected. Their 2023 paper indicated a subsequent rebrightening in March 2025. Study co-author Eric Coughlin recently mentioned that if the star hasn't been obliterated yet, the black hole's third meal will take place between May 2025 and August 2025.
The team is keeping a close eye on the tidal disruption event to unlock the mystery of how black holes interact with their surroundings. So, mark your calendars for summer 2025; it might just be a mesmerizing X-ray spectacle for enthusiasts!
However, predicting the exact date range for a tidal disruption event involving the supermassive black hole at the heart of our very own Milky Way, Sagittarius A*, remains challenging due to the complexity of astronomical events and the rarity of tidal disruptions. If we consider a supermassive black hole with a mass 50 million times that of the Sun, it would be comparable to some of the largest known black holes like the one in M87, which is about 5 billion times more massive.
For now, there is no specific predicted date range for the next tidal disruption event involving such a massive black hole. But, who knows, maybe you'll catch a glimpse of the celestial feeding frenzy up close someday!
Astronomers predict another tidal disruption event involving the supermassive black hole at the heart of a distant galaxy will occur between May 2025 and August 2025, if the survivor star hasn't been obliterated yet. Dheeraj Pasham, an astrophysicist at MIT, shared that the black hole seemed to have finished its last meal on August 14, 2023. Chandra's recent observations confirm the black hole's dining habits, hinting at future interactions between black holes and their surroundings. If we compare the supermassive black hole in M87 with one with a mass 50 million times that of the Sun, they would be comparable in size. However, predicting the exact date range for a tidal disruption event involving the supermassive black hole at the heart of our very own Milky Way, Sagittarius A*, remains challenging.
