As explained by the scientists, from one moment to another SDSS1335+0728 It became brighter, and stayed that way over the years.
A discovery surrounded by mysteries
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The discovery was observed in real time.
The astronomical community He never came out of his amazement. Paula Sánchez Sáez, astronomer of the European Southern Observatory, put it into words: “Imagine that you have been observing a distant galaxy for years and it always seemed calm and inactive to you. Suddenly, it begins to show dramatic changes in brightness, unlike any typical event we have seen before.” “.
Normally, the astronomers They can witness transient brightenings, which occur when a black hole devours a star, or when a supernova occurs.
But in this galaxy There was never a decrease in brightness after five years of constant observation, which is absolutely unprecedented.
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The main theory
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The first image taken of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
Although at the moment there is no certain explanation for why the entire galaxy suddenly lit up, the scientists They have a theory that could explain the strange phenomenon.
What is suspected is that the supermassive black hole at the center of SDSS1335+0728 was awakened. The surprise is because something similar has never been seen before.
The black holes supermassive are millions or thousands of millions of times larger than our Sun. Many astronomers They think that these giants are at the center of all galaxies.
Claudio Ricci, from the Diego Portales University of Chile, explained that “in the case of SDSS1335+0728we were able to observe the awakening of the enormous black hole, which suddenly began to feed on the gas available in its environment, becoming very bright.”
Humanity recently began to be able to observe black holes. In fact, it was in 2022 that the first known image of Sagittarius A* was taken, the black hole located in the center of the Milky Way.
This is how an artist imagined that the phenomenon occurred
Embed – Artist’s animation of the black hole at the center of SDSS1335+0728 awakening in real time
