Supermassive Black Hole Awakens 360 Million Light-Years Away

TapTechNews June 21, a newly published research report by astronomers at the European Southern Observatory reveals that a supermassive black hole 360 million light-years away from the Earth has awakened from dormancy and begun to devour surrounding matter, with a mass about one million times that of the Sun.

The distant galaxy, named SDSS1335+0728, is located within the Virgo Cluster and is approximately 360 million light-years away from the Earth. It started to emit extremely bright light in December 2019, and then emitted stronger and stronger light in multiple radiation spectra, attracting the attention of more and more astronomers.

The study puts forward a relatively reasonable explanation. SDSS1335+0728 is a supermassive black hole in a sleeping state (with a mass of about one million times that of the Sun), and after awakening, it begins to transform into an active galactic nucleus (AGN), starting to devour the surrounding gas, resulting in a sharp increase in brightness.

By comparing the data before and after December 2019, the research team found that the galaxy is now emitting more ultraviolet, visible and infrared light, and since February of this year, the galaxy has begun to emit X-rays. The researchers say that this phenomenon is unprecedented.

Based on the report, the researchers pointed out that this activity may also be caused by an exceptionally long and weak tidal disruption event. If so, this would be the longest and weakest tidal disruption event detected so far, or it could be an entirely new phenomenon.