A MASSIVE black hole may have flipped its magnetic field, scientists probing mystery signals from 236 million light-years away claim.
Researchers say a drop in X-ray emissions for several months in a galaxy known as 1ES 1927+654 could prove their theory right.
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“This event marks the first time we’ve seen X-rays dropping out completely while the other wavelengths brighten,” said study lead Sibasish Laha, from the University of Maryland, in a NASA statement.
The emissions ceased for a few months before resuming and increasing.
If scientists can confirm the blip was due to a supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy changing its magnetic field, it may help astrophysicists understand how such a switch affects the surrounding environment, the statement read.
The Milky Way, like most large galaxies, have a supermassive block hole lodged at its centre that pulls matter in towards it.
The matter first collects in a disc-like formation around the black hole before heating up and emitting ultraviolet light and X-ray wavelengths as it’s pushed inward.
As it inches closer, it forms a cloud of extremely hot particles which scientists call a corona.
The new study suggests these corona particles are what may have caused the X-rays coming from the black hole to temporarily disappear.
If a magnetic flip did take place, it would see the north and south poles switch and cause UV light to increase at the centre of the galaxy due to more heating.
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This, scientists believe, happens when the corona begins to diminish and the matter circling the black hole grows more compact in the center.
As the flip evolves, the field weakens so much that corona can’t be supported at all, causing X-ray emissions to cease, researchers suggested.
In October 2018, the center of galaxy 1ES 1927+654 had ceased emitting X-ray emissions for roughly four months.
When they remerged, they emitted pre-eruption X-ray emissions.
Two space telescopes tracked changes in UV light and X-rays, including NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton satellite.
Meanwhile, visible light and radio observations were performed from telescopes in Italy, the Canary Islands and New Mexico.
The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal.
