This is only the second instance of such an event ever discovered

Aug 3, 2012 14:52 GMT  ·  By

Scientists observing a distant galaxy have recently been able to identify an extremely rare phenomenon, called a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO), which occurred around a black hole. QPO is actually a specific type of X-ray signal that is only produced after the dark behemoths consume a star.

It is important to note that stellar-mass and intermediary-mass black holes, alongside all flavors of neutron stars and white dwarfs, constantly exhibit variations of QPO. However, until now, only one such signal has been detected around a supermassive black hole.

The object in question is known as Swift J1644+57, because it was discovered by experts using the NASA Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission, which surveys the sky in visible, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray wavelengths.

Last year, Swift saw a massive eruption occurring at the black hole's location. Astrophysicists believe that the event was triggered by an unlucky star, which happened to stray close to the dark behemoth.

Gravitational and tidal forces promptly and simultaneously proceeded to rip it to shreds, and then add the material to the accretion disk feeding the supermassive black hole's growth. The distinctive X-ray signal is most likely the result of this process.

This monstrous object is located in the Seyfert-type galaxy REJ 1034+396, which lies approximately 576 million light-years away in the constellation Draco, relatively close in astronomical terms.

“This discovery extends our reach to the innermost edge of a black hole located billions of light-years away, which is really amazing,” University of Michigan in Ann Arbor Einstein postdoctoral fellow Ruben Reis explains.

“This gives us an opportunity to explore the nature of black holes and test Einstein's relativity at a time when the Universe was very different than it is today,” the investigator goes on to say. Details of the new research effort were published in the August 2 issue of the esteemed journal Science Express.

In addition to Swift, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Suzaku satellite and the European Space Agency's (ESA) XMM-Newton X-ray Telescope were also involved in the research.

“QPO send us information from the very brim of the black hole, which is where the effects of relativity become most extreme. The ability to gain insight into these processes over such a vast distance is a truly beautiful result and holds great promise,” Reis concludes.