NASA Cartography The remains of periodic eruptions near a black hole :: Nasanet

Scientists have managed to map the environment of mysterious X -ray eruptions near a supermassive black hole, thanks to NASA’s nicer telescope and other space observatories. These rashes, called quasi-periodic eruptions (QPE), are produced cyclically and their origin is not yet fully understood.

The system studied, nicknamed Ansky, is only the eighth of this type detected to date and stands out for being the most energetic and persistent: it emits eruptions every 4.5 days that last approximately one day and a half. It is 300 million light years, in the constellation of Virgo.

Researchers believe that QPE originates when an object of lower dough – like a star or planet – crosses the gas disc that surrounds the black hole. This crossing causes the expulsion of hot material, which is detected as X -ray bursts. In the case of Ansky, each eruption launches gas equivalent to Jupiter’s mass at speeds close to 15% of the speed of light.

Using Nicer and XMM-Newton telescope data of ESA, astronomers could accurately measure the size and temperature of the debris bubbles generated after each event, even during a stage in which Nicer suffered a light leak that was repaired in 2024.

The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal and led by Joheen Chakraborty of MIT, marks a key advance to understand these extreme phenomena and for future missions such as Lisa, which will seek to detect gravitational waves in similar systems. According to scientists, QPE could be repeated for several years, until the orbiting object disintegrates or the disc dispense.