Newly awakened black hole reveals ‘wild’ appetite that stuns scientists

A supermassive black hole in the galaxy SDSS1335+0728, located 300 million light years from Earth, has recently been under continuous observation by scientists. This object became the first black hole to “wake up” before the eyes of researchers, which made it possible to monitor its activity in real time. What was unexpected was the demonstration of the black hole’s “wild” appetite – the highest rate of absorption of the matter surrounding it.

A black hole in the process of feeding on foreign objects (artist’s impression). Image credit: ESA

The supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy SDSS1335+0728 — also known as a quasar or active galactic nucleus — first became active in December 2019. It then began gradually absorbing surrounding matter and emitting flashes in the soft X-ray range.

Everything fit within the framework of existing models until February 2024, when the object began emitting flares ten times brighter and ten times longer than the average statistical levels. In other words, the radiation intensity and, accordingly, the rate of matter falling onto the black hole’s accretion disk increased by two orders of magnitude. This was an unprecedented event in the history of observations of active galactic nuclei. Moreover, this “disco” continues to this day, baffling scientists.

As the researchers admit, the activity of the object in the center of SDSS1335+0728 is on the edge of what is acceptable within the framework of theoretical models. The intensity of the black hole’s “feeding” and the mechanisms that generate such powerful and regular radiation in a wide range of waves – from infrared to X-rays – are beyond the scope of explanation. Such an accretion mode cannot be explained by either the surrounding gas or dust, or the tidal destruction of a star that has fallen into the gravitational field of a black hole. Other, as yet unidentified processes are probably hidden behind the events in SDSS1335+0728.

Scientists suggest that the observed phenomena may be caused to some extent by gravitational waves. However, existing ground-based gravitational wave observatories are not capable of recording waves of such a low frequency. This will require the creation of space gravitational wave detectors with a base length of hundreds of kilometers in the future. Perhaps they will help to reveal the secrets of such unusual activity of supermassive black holes.