On January 13, 2025, researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) reported significant findings regarding a galaxy located approximately 270 million light-years away in the Draco constellation. This galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole and has been the subject of ongoing international observation, including contributions from the IAC.
Observations have revealed the ejection of a plasma jet moving at nearly one-third the speed of light, alongside unusual and rapid fluctuations in X-ray emissions. Eileen Meyer, an associate professor at the University of Maryland, noted that the galaxy's core began exhibiting changes in late 2017, marked by a substantial outburst of visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray light.
Following a period of decreased activity, a resurgence of low-energy X-rays was detected in 2022, prompting further observations that indicated an atypical rise in radio emissions. José Acosta, a researcher at the IAC, highlighted that despite the intense activity in various energy ranges, visible emissions remained nearly constant from 2022 to 2024, primarily influenced by the galaxy's stellar population.
High-resolution imaging efforts unveiled real-time plasma jet formation on either side of the black hole, with a mass equivalent to 1.4 million solar masses. This real-time observation of jet formation is unprecedented, according to Meyer.
Crucial to these discoveries were observations conducted from various Canary Islands observatories, particularly with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma. Additionally, the XMM-Newton satellite, led by Megan Masterson from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, identified extremely rapid variations in X-ray emissions from the galaxy's core between July 2022 and March 2024, with brightness oscillating regularly before stabilizing unexpectedly.
Collaborators in this research include the University of Maryland, NASA, and the IAC, with contributions from researchers José Acosta Pulido and Josefa Becerra González. The study suggests that the observed phenomena may involve a low-mass white dwarf, a remnant of a dead star, orbiting close to the black hole's event horizon while shedding some of its material.
The findings challenge existing notions of black hole behavior, indicating that matter may not always be consumed in a straightforward manner, potentially hinting at a source of gravitational waves.