One of the most extreme instances yet of a black hole surprising us is J221951.

One of the most dramatic “switching on” events ever observed is the result of a supermassive black hole beginning to consume the surrounding matter, one of the brightest transient events.

One of the brightest transients ever observed is the one powered by this greedy black hole, J221951. Transients are astronomical events or objects that change in brightness over short periods of time. The black hole is exactly where a supermassive black hole would be expected to be located, which is in line with the location of the black hole in a galaxy that has already been observed. However, the precise cause of the transient event that was observed in J221951 is still unknown to astronomers.

Matt Nicholl, a member of the team and an astronomer at the University of Belfast, stated in a statement, “Our understanding of the different things that supermassive black holes can do has greatly expanded in recent years, with discoveries of stars being torn apart and accreting black holes with hugely variable luminosities.” One of the most extreme instances yet of a black hole surprising us is J221951.

It is possible that J221951 represents a star that has ventured too close to the supermassive black hole, which is violently ripped apart by tidal forces arising from its immense gravity in a process known as spaghettification. However, the nature of what the supermassive black hole is consuming is currently unknown.

A tidal disruption event (TDE) would see some of the destroyed star’s stellar material fall to the black hole’s surface, while other matter would be funneled to the black hole’s poles before being blasted out at near light speed, releasing powerful electromagnetic radiation.

However, the unfortunate star’s spaghettification is not the only mechanism that could be causing the black hole in question to produce this bright transient event. J221951 could also be the result of the galaxy’s central nucleus transitioning from a dormant to an active state.

Bright regions at the center of galaxies known as active galactic nuclei (AGNs) emit enough light to outnumber all of the galaxy’s other stars. Additionally, they are powered by massive black holes.

Nicholl went on to say, “Continuous monitoring of J221951 to work out the total energy release might allow us to work out whether this is a tidal disruption of a star by a fast-spinning black hole or a new type of AGN switch on.”

Watching the emotional “turning on” at the core of a universe
Kilonovas are a kind of transient occasion that happens during the consolidation of two neutron stars or a neutron star and a dark opening, which delivers brilliant explosions of electromagnetic radiation. Kilonovas initially appear blue before changing color over several days to red. Similar to a kilonova, the transient J221951 also appeared blue, but it did not rapidly change color. The idea of this not entirely settled by subsequent meet-ups with space-based offices like the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories like the Exceptionally Huge Telescope (VLT) situated in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile.

“When Hubble’s ultraviolet (UV) spectrum ruled out a galactic origin, it was the most important discovery. Paul Kuin, a member of the team and a researcher at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London, stated, “This shows how important it is to maintain a space-based UV spectrograph capability for the future.”

With a source found 10 billion light-years away, the group understood that J221951 should be one of the most splendid occasions at any point seen. They will now work to learn more about what caused it.

Oates stated, “We will be able to obtain important clues in the future that help distinguish between the tidal disruption event and active galactic nuclei scenarios.” For instance, if J221951 is associated with the activation of an AGN, we might anticipate that it will resume its brightness and stop fading, whereas if J221951 is a tidal disruption event, we might anticipate that it will continue to fade.

“To capture its late-time behavior, we will need to continue monitoring J221951 over the next few months to years.”

On Tuesday, July 4, the team presented their findings at the National Astronomy Meeting 2023 in Cardiff, UK.