Every 4.5 days, a black hole emits X -ray explosions. We already know why

The secret to the explosions of this mysterious black hole system may be in your own album.

ANSKY, a black hole system, emits powerful repeated x-ray explosions connected as QPES (quasi-peri-periodic eruptions). They happen every 4.5 days, last approximately 1 and a half days, and have intrigued astronomers. But NASA may have finally deciphered its origin.

“These QPEs are mysterious and extremely interesting phenomena,” said Joheen Chakraborty, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ao.

“One of the most intriguing aspects is its almost periodic nature. We are still developing the methodologies and structures necessary to understand what causes QPES, and the unusual properties of ANSKY are helping us to improve these tools.”

Now some clues may have led to the explanation. “The extreme properties of ANSKY can be due to Nature of the album around its supermassive black hole“, Disse a researcher Lorena Hernández-García.

“In most QPE systems, the supermassive black hole probably destroys a passing star, creating a small album very close to itself. In the case of Ansky, we believe that The disc is much larger And it can involve more distant objects, creating the longer periods of time we observe, ”he continues.

The team that led the one published in The Astrophysical Journal This month it used data from Nicer and XMM-Newton to map the rapid evolution of the ejected material that boosted the observed QPES with unprecedented details.

QPES Electromagnetic Studies will help improve models of these systems before Lisa’s expected launch in the mid -2030s. “Let’s keep watching Ansky while we can,” Chakraborty said. “We are still at the beginning of the understanding of QPES. It is a very exciting moment, because there is a lot to learn.”