Buzz
It’s widely known that black holes devour matter at an extraordinary pace. However, scientists have uncovered a stunning collection of otherworldly feats that black holes can perform.
From achieving near-impossible speeds to even self-inflicted damage and some questionable activities, these cosmic entities are far more multi-faceted than we typically acknowledge.
10. Spin at Mind-Blowing Speeds
For the first time, researchers have successfully measured the spin of a supermassive black hole. And it’s a record-breaker: 84 percent of the speed of light.
The central black hole of NGC 1365, located 60 million light-years away, is not only mind-bogglingly fast but also massive. With a diameter of 3.2 million kilometers (2 million miles) and a mass several million times that of our Sun, it’s a true giant.
As this black hole spins, it drags space-time with it, creating an intense whirlpool of X-ray-emitting gas and dust that spirals into its event horizon. The matter likely originates from one specific direction, providing the steady, unidirectional force needed to reach such velocities.
9. Roam in Groups
The largest galaxies observed today are powered by supermassive black holes so vast that they couldn't have formed from a single star. Scientists believe that 'density cusps'—clusters of stars, dying binary star groups, or even smaller black holes—come together to give birth to these enigmatic giants.
New evidence has emerged to support this theory. X-ray analysis shows that the Milky Way's core conceals a density cusp, a 'village' of 12 potential black holes orbiting around our central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*.
This finding suggests that up to 20,000 additional black holes may be swirling around the heart of our galaxy.
8. Hurl Jupiter-Sized 'Spitballs' (Occasionally Toward Us)
Based on theory and simulations, when a star ventures too close to the dormant Sagittarius A*, it is stretched into spaghetti-like strands every 10,000 years.
The massive black hole consumes half of the star’s material and ejects the other half into space. However, some of this infalling matter stays far enough away to form planet-sized chunks.
What’s truly alarming? These fragments, which can be as large as Neptune or even exceed Jupiter's size, are expelled into intergalactic space at mind-boggling speeds of 3.2–32.2 million kilometers per hour (2–20 million mph).
It's thought that these 'tidal disruption events' could fling up to 100 million such objects, potentially even toward us, throughout the lifespan of the Milky Way.
7. Unveil The Galactic History
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has captured the first-ever image of a black hole’s torus— the swirling cloud of gas and dust encircling its immense gravitational pull.
This groundbreaking torus is located 47 million light-years away in the Cetus constellation. Measuring just about 20 light-years in diameter, it showcases ALMA’s remarkable sensitivity. From studying the torus, astronomers can unravel the galaxy’s history, learning from its asymmetry and movement that it once collided with another galaxy.
6. Launch Matter at Extraordinary Velocities
Located a billion light-years away, the galaxy PG211+143 stands out as an extraordinary astronomical target, glowing brightly due to a ravenous black hole at its core. Researchers tracked an Earth-sized chunk of debris falling toward the black hole, reaching speeds of 30 percent of the speed of light—faster than anything previously recorded.
While many objects in space align with one another, like planets moving in the same direction, this isn’t the case for matter plunging into a black hole.
These spiraling rings of matter are chaotic. They collide with one another, disrupting their rotational momentum and, as a result, attain astonishing speeds of 100,000 kilometers per second (62,000 miles per second).
5. Banish Themselves
Astronomers believe that black holes can sometimes be expelled from their galaxies, with the most significant evidence coming from a location eight billion light-years away.
The quasar 3C 186 is an incredible one billion solar masses. In an unexpected twist, it is rapidly fleeing its host galaxy cluster. Researchers observed its gas cloud racing away at 7.6 million kilometers per hour (4.7 million mph), meaning it could reach the Moon from Earth in just three minutes.
This is due to gravitational waves, created by the merger of two enormous black holes. These waves pushed the resulting supermassive black hole from its position with the energy equivalent to 100 million supernovae exploding simultaneously.
4. Steal From Larger Black Holes
Astronomers have observed five instances of black hole mergers creating gravitational waves, but in one case, two black holes were much larger than expected. Instead of the anticipated 10–15 solar masses, these black holes measured around 20 solar masses each. This is because they were siphoning material from a much larger and more formidable black hole at the galaxy's core.
These massive black holes were once sizable stars that collapsed and drifted towards the galactic center, where gas and dust flowed into the supermassive black hole. They stole this material, growing nearly three times as massive before finally merging.
3. Wipe Out Our Sun in Just Two Days
Astronomers have discovered an incredibly hungry black hole in the early universe, about 12 billion years ago. This quasar devours the mass equivalent to our Sun every two days, emitting so much superheated gas and dust that it shines a thousand times brighter than its host galaxy.
While it's still a mystery how it became so massive during the universe's 'dark ages,' its immense power is undeniable.
If it were moved to the center of the Milky Way, located 25,000 light-years from Earth, this black hole would blot out the stars, shine 10 times brighter than a full Moon, and likely bathe our planet in deadly X-rays.
2. Conceal Themselves in Minuscule Galaxies
Fornax UCD3, a galaxy containing just 100 million stars, is minuscule compared to the hundreds of billions in the Milky Way. Yet, with stars spread across only 300 light-years, UCD3 is one of the densest galaxies, categorized as an 'ultracompact dwarf.'
At its core lies a supermassive black hole weighing in at million solar masses. It's nearly as massive as Sagittarius A* in the Milky Way, although our galaxy stretches across 150,000 light-years.
This is the fourth supermassive black hole found within an ultracompact dwarf. It makes up 4 percent of the galaxy's total mass, whereas the typical amount is closer to 0.3 percent.
UCD3 was likely much larger in the past, but a close encounter with a more massive galaxy caused it to lose many of its stars.
1. Harness Magnetic Fields for Sustenance
A key element in determining a black hole's mass might be its magnetic field. Researchers examined Cygnus A, the closest active galaxy located 600 million light-years away, and discovered a potent magnetic field surrounding its energetic, 'radio-loud' core.
The black hole at the center of Cygnus A is active, emitting collimated jets of radiation from its poles. The surrounding magnetic field plays a crucial role, trapping material in a ring, or torus, around the black hole and funneling it into its immense gravitational pull.
Researchers suggest that the primary difference between active galaxies like Cygnus A and inactive ones like our own could lie in the presence of such a magnetic field.
