In a galaxy 300 million light-years away, the awakening of a massive black hole has been observed live for the first time. This extraordinary event occurred at the center of a galaxy that, in late 2019, suddenly began to shine brighter than ever. The changes were monitored with several space and ground-based observatories, including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope.
Paula Sánchez Sáez, an astronomer at ESO in Germany and lead author of the study, describes the event this way: “Imagine that for years you have observed a distant galaxy that has always appeared calm and inactive. Suddenly, its core begins to show clear changes in brightness, unlike any other typical event observed so far.”
This galaxy, known as SDSS1335+0728is located in the constellation Virgo.
Since she became so bright in December 2019, she is classified as having a ‘active galactic nucleus’a compact and luminous region powered by a very massive black hole. After more than four years, SDSS1335+0728 continues to become increasingly brightexcluding the possibility that its brilliance is due to faster phenomena such as the explosion of a supernova or the destruction of a star torn to shreds by a black hole.
Jades-GS-Z14-0: The most distant galaxy ever observed has been identifiedComparing observations made before and after December 2019, researchers have discovered that now SDSS1335+0728 radiates much more light at ultraviolet, optical and wavelengths infrared. The galaxy also began emitting X-rays in February 2024. “This behavior is unprecedented,” says Sánchez Sáez. Lorena Hernández Garcíafrom the University of Valparaíso in Chile, adds: “The most concrete option to explain this phenomenon is that we are seeing the core of the galaxy starting to show activity. If so, this would be the first time we have seen the activation of a massive black hole in real time.”
Awakening of a black hole: a phenomenon observed live
“These giant monsters are usually asleep and not directly visible,” he specifies. Claudio Ricci of Diego Portales University in Chile. “In the case of SDSS1335+0728we were able to observe the awakening of the massive black hole, which suddenly began to feed on the gas available in its surroundings, becoming very bright”. This process “it has never been observed before,” concludes Hernández García. However, further observations will be necessary to to exclude other possible alternative explanations.
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