Astronomers have spotted an unprecedented flash from a supermassive black hole, which is 30 million times larger than the Sun.
They observed a strong flash of X-ray radiation that faded very quickly.
As the flash faded, this gravitational "monster" was ejecting matter into space at an astonishing speed of 60.000 kilometers per second.
The research, published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics (Astronomy & Astrophysics), indicates that the winds set off by this flash are similar to those generated on the Sun, which could further our understanding of our Universe.
What is a black hole?
Despite their name, black holes are not really holes, but rather huge amounts of matter compressed into an extremely small space, according to the definition of the American space agency NASA.
They are so dense that nothing can escape from them, not even light.
They remain among the most enigmatic objects in the universe.
Supermassive black holes have thousands, sometimes billions, of times the mass of the Sun.
They are at the center of almost every large galaxy.
They are surrounded by swirling disks of gas and dust, which their intense gravity can suck in.
As the black hole "devours" this matter, the disks heat up to incredible temperatures and emit intense radiation of various wavelengths, including X-rays.
Jets and outflows of gas, known as winds, are also ejected, and contain ionized atoms that can even influence the birth of new stars in the galaxy.
Watch and listen: This is what a black hole sounds like
"We've never seen a black hole generating winds so fast before," says lead author Liji Gu of the Netherlands National Institute for Space Research (SRON).
The supermassive black hole that was studied is located in a spiral galaxy, about 130 million light-years from Earth.
To be able to see it, researchers used two space telescopes that together recorded this unique event.
One is a special aircraft. XMM Newtons of the European Space Agency (ESA), which studies X-ray sources throughout the Universe.
The second is the XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) telescope, led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with support from ESA and NASA.
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The bright region surrounded by a supermassive black hole is known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN).
"The winds around this black hole appear to have been created when the active galactic nucleus's twisted magnetic field suddenly 'unwound', similar to flares that erupt from the Sun, but on a scale that is almost unimaginable," explains Matteo Guainaci, project scientist. ESA XRISM and co-author of the research.
Camille Diez, a team member and researcher at the European Space Agency, says that windy active galactic nuclei "play a major role" in how their galaxies evolve over time.
"Because they have such a powerful influence, new insights into the magnetism of active galactic nuclei and how they generate winds like these are crucial to understanding the history of galaxies across the Universe," she says.
Secrets of the Universe
Researchers have noticed that the winds emitted by this black hole resemble large eruptions on the Sun, known as coronal mass ejections.
These are huge explosions of charged particles from the outermost layer of the Sun that can also have an impact on Earth.
They often occur around the same time as a solar flare, a large explosion caused by the sudden release of energy stored in magnetic fields.
"Two space telescopes focused on an active supermassive black hole and discovered something we hadn't seen before: fast, ultrafast winds caused by flares that resemble those produced on the Sun," says Erik Kulker, ESA mission scientist. XMM Newtons.
"What's exciting is that this suggests that solar and high-energy physics can operate in surprisingly familiar ways across the Universe," he adds.
Watch: This is what it looks like inside a black hole
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