They detect regular glows in a distant galaxy that could be the result of a star gradually being devoured by a black hole

The event, located 570 million light-years from Earth, is called “ASASSN-14ko,” and it repeats every 114 days and releases a mass of gas three times the mass of Jupiter.

Regular flashes in the middle Galaxy ESO 253-G003 It’s the result of a star’s orbit around a supermassive black hole, a team of scientists suggests.

The event is located 570 million light-years from Earth and is referred to asASASSN-14KO ‘, Was first discovered in November 2014. At that time, researchers thought it was a supernova explosion.

However, six years later, NASA scientist Anna Payne indicated that it has been repeated 17 times since then, at minute intervals of about 114 days terrestrial. every-time It reached its maximum brightness in five days and then diminished slowly.

“These are the most frequently expected and repeated flares of multiple wavelengths that we have seen in the core of a galaxy,” the NASA statement published on Tuesday reads, according to the researcher.

After observing the event multiple times, Payne and his colleagues came up with three possible explanations, all linked to The interaction of the black hole with surrounding matter. According to the first version, two black holes interact, rotating at a relatively small distance from each other. The second hypothesis proposes the passage of a star, with an inclined orbit, through the accretion disk of a black hole. However, in this case the emissions may differ in form, and this is not actually the case.

The third assumption – and the most likely one according to the scientists – is that flashes are effects of a Tidal disturbance occurred partial. When a star approaches a black hole’s event horizon and is torn apart by its own gravity, it releases massive amounts of matter and energy. In the case of ASASSN-14ko, the star passes far enough from the black hole to not be destroyed instantly, but with each flash it loses a mass of gas. Three times that of Jupiter. Ultimately, it will be completely devoured, as astronomers expect.

The scientists’ findings and hypotheses are presented in an unpublished article, available at arXiv.org.

If you find it interesting, share it with your friends!