News

X-ray flashes from a nearby supermassive black hole accelerate mysteriously

Their source could be the core of a dead star that’s teetering at the black hole’s edge, MIT astronomers report.

In this artist’s rendering, a stream of matter trails a white dwarf orbiting within the innermost accretion disk surrounding 1ES 1927’s supermassive black hole.
In this artist’s rendering, a stream of matter trails a white dwarf orbiting within the innermost accretion disk surrounding 1ES 1927’s supermassive black hole.
Credit: Aurore Simonnet / Sonoma State University
Monday, January 13, 2025
By Jennifer Chu | MIT News