NASA Detects Black Hole Eruption For The First Time in 26 Years

This time a Black Hole, at 8,000 light years from us has spat out matter. It is a Black Hole Giant that is 12 times more massive than our Sun. Named as V404 Cygni, the Black Hole is a part of a two body system and has a partner smaller than our Sun. Satellites at NASA detected a burst of X-Rays on June 15 beaming from a single source that was later confirmed as a Black Hole.

When in a two body system, a black hole feeds from the star, its gases. The gas speeds up due to the strong gravity and gets hotter and hotter as it reaches towards the black hole. As soon as the temperature of the gases sore to 1.7 million degrees Fahrenheit, a jet of high-energy particles is emitted. This is the energy that the instruments jacked up on the satellites detect.

This is not the first time V404 Cygni has erupted. Astronomers first felt its presence in 1938, then again in 1956 and 1989. The time period to study these outbursts ranges from a week to a month. So scientists are not wasting any time and are using most sophisticated instruments throughout the globe.

Observatories like Chandra X-ray Observatory, Japan’s MAXI and ESA’s INTEGRAL satellite have been put up to study V404 Cygni black hole.

A FUN FACT: We are observing the electromagnetic waves that had started their journey 8,000 years back to reach Earth now.

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