The European Space Agency's XMM-Newton has detected rapidly fluctuating X-rays emanating from the edge of a supermassive black hole located in a nearby galaxy. This discovery challenges previous assumptions about how matter interacts with black holes and suggests a possible source of gravitational waves for ESA's future LISA mission.
XMM-Newton's findings indicate that black holes consume matter in more intricate ways than initially understood. According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, black holes are regions in spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape once it crosses the event horizon.
During the accretion process, matter spirals into the black hole, forming a hot disc that emits primarily ultraviolet (UV) light. This light interacts with a surrounding cloud of charged gas, or plasma, known as the corona, which enhances the UV rays into X-rays detectable by XMM-Newton.
Since 2011, XMM-Newton has monitored the supermassive black hole 1ES 1927+654. Initially stable, the black hole experienced a significant outburst in 2018, resulting in the disappearance of its X-ray corona. By early 2021, the corona had reappeared, restoring normal conditions.