You don’t have to know a whole lot about science to know the black holes typically suck things in, not spew things out. But NASA just spotted something very strange at the supermassive black hole Markarian 335.
Two of NASA’s space telescopes, including the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), miraculously observed a black holes cornea “launched” away from the supermassive black hole. Then a massive pulse of x-ray energy spewed out. So, what exactly happened? That’s what scientists are trying to figure out now.
“This is the first time we have been able to link the launching of the cornea to a flare,” Dan Wilkins, of St. Mary’s University said. “This will help us understand how supermassive black holes power some of the brightest objects in the universe.”
NuSTAR’s principal investigator, Fiona Harrison, noted that the nature of the energetic source is “mysterious,” but added that the ability to actually record the event should provide some clues about the black hole’s size and structure, along with some fresh Intel on how black holes function. Luckily for us, this black hole is still 324 million light years away.
So, no matter what strange things it’s doing, it shouldn’t have any effect on our corner of the universe.