researcher of late observed apeculiar flarefrom Sagittarius A * , the supermassive bleak jam at the center of the Milky Way . Last May , they watch as the supermassive black hole increased in light and then quickly dimmed over just a few 60 minutes .
As reported in a novel paper published in theAstrophysical Journal Letters , something has changed in the environment around Sagittarius A * . For over 20 class , investigator have been monitoring the infrared emissions of our well-disposed neighborhood supermassive disastrous yap , and it appears that this yr it became significantly more active .
The May flare was twice the luminousness of the previous criminal record holder for a black hole . The team looked at more than 13,000 observations over 133 night since 2003 . There have been two other bright nights this class , although not quite as remarkable as May 13 .
“ We have never seen anything like this in the 24 years we have studied the supermassive smutty hole , ” Andrea Ghez , UCLA professor of physics and uranology and a co - senior generator of the inquiry , said in astatement . “ It ’s usually a pretty quiet , wimpish black pickle on a diet . We do n’t know what is driving this big banquet . ”
The team get hold evidence that suggest the changes witness this year are unlikely to be the norm , at least following the current manakin for Sagittarius A * . There is only a chance of 0.05 percent for these observations to be part of a banner , stable conduct for a celestial body .
“ The first simulacrum I saw that Nox , the smuggled hole was so bright I ab initio mistook it for the star S0 - 2 , because I had never seen Sagittarius A * that hopeful , ” added principal author Tuan Do , also at UCLA . “ But it quickly became clean-cut the source had to be the black pickle , which was really exciting . ”
And S0 - 2 is being accused of have got something to do with it . This star orb closely to the supermassive black hole , close enough in fact for the squad to use it asa test - earth for general theory of relativity . The whizz had its closest passage last year , which might have pushed some material into the jaws of the supermassive black hole .
An substitute suggestion is that we are witness a delayed chemical reaction from the close handing over of the dusty objective G2 in 2014 . The squad is quite upfront in saying that maybe it ’s the theoretical account that really want updating . As is often the character in astronomy , more observations will provide young brainstorm to attain a satisfactory answer .
