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Astronomers said Thursday they have spotted a hot bubble of gas spinning clockwise around the black hole at the centre of our galaxy at “mind blowing” speeds.

The detection of the bubble, which only survived for a few hours, is hoped to provide insight into how these invisible, insatiable, galactic monsters work.

The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* lurks in the middle of the Milky Way some 27,000 light years from Earth, and its immense pull gives our home galaxy its characteristic swirl.

The first-ever image of Sagittarius A* was revealed in May by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, which links radio dishes around the world aiming to detect light as it disappears into the maw of black holes.

One of those dishes, the ALMA radio telescope in Chile’s Andes mountains, picked up something “really puzzling” in the Sagittarius A* data, said Maciek Wielgus, an astrophysicist at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.

Just minutes before ALMA’s radio data collection began, the Chandra Space Telescope observed a “huge spike” in X-rays, Wielgus told AFP.

This burst of energy, thought to be similar to solar flares on the Sun, sent a hot bubble of gas swirling around the black hole, according to a new study published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The gas bubble, also known as a hot spot, had an orbit similar to Mercury‘s trip around the Sun, the study’s lead author Wielgus said.

But while it takes Mercury 88 days to make that trip, the bubble did it in just 70 minutes. That means it travelled at around 30 percent of the speed of light.

“So it’s an absolutely, ridiculously fast-spinning bubble,” Wielgus said, calling it “mind blowing”.

A MAD theory

The scientists were able to track the bubble through their data for around one and half hours – it was unlikely to have survived more than a couple of orbits before being destroyed.

Wielgus said the observation supported a theory known as MAD. “MAD like crazy, but also MAD like magnetically arrested discs,” he said.

The phenomenon is thought to happen when there is such a strong magnetic field at the mouth of a black hole that it stops material from being sucked inside.

But the matter keeps piling up, building up to a “flux eruption”, Wielgus said, which snaps the magnetic fields and causes a burst of energy.

By learning how these magnetic fields work, scientists hope to build a model of the forces that control black holes, which remain shrouded in mystery.

Magnetic fields could also help indicate how fast black holes spin – which could be particularly interesting for Sagittarius A*.

While Sagittarius A* is four million times the mass of our Sun, it only shines with the power of about 100 suns, “which is extremely unimpressive for a supermassive black hole, Wielgus said.

“It’s the weakest supermassive black hole that we’ve seen in the universe – we’ve only seen it because it is very close to us.”

But it is probably a good thing that our galaxy has a “starving black hole” at its centre, Wielgus said.

“Living next to a quasar,” which can shine with the power of billions of suns, “would be a terrible thing,” he added.

Buying an affordable 5G smartphone today usually means you will end up paying a “5G tax”. What does that mean for those looking to get access to 5G networks as soon as they launch? Find out on this week’s episode. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Rare Titan Shadow Transits Will Sweep Across Saturn in Summer 2025

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June 30, 2025

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Rare Titan Shadow Transits Will Sweep Across Saturn in Summer 2025

Saturn’s largest moon Titan will cast its shadow across the planet’s surface in a rare spectacle this summer. Over the coming months, observers on Earth may see a dark “hole” move across Saturn’s disk as Titan passes in front of the planet. This event is tied to a special alignment: roughly every 15 years, Saturn’s rings become edge-on to our view (a ring-plane crossing or equinox). Indeed, in March 2025 the rings briefly vanished as they lined up edge-on, setting the stage for Titan’s shadow to loom large on Saturn’s globe. After this year’s transit season, the configuration won’t recur until about 2040, making these transits uniquely unmissable.

Saturn’s Equinox and Titan’s Transits

According to Space.com, right now Saturn is near its equinox, meaning its tilted rings are edge-on to Earth. This geometry allows Titan’s shadow – a dark spot on Saturn – to sweep across the planet’s face, much like a lunar eclipse but on Saturn. Titan orbits Saturn about every 16 days, so during this alignment we can see its shadow cross Saturn’s disk repeatedly. In fact, roughly ten Titan shadow-transit events are expected during 2025. Three have already occurred (most recently on June 16), and seven more are forecast from July through early October 2025. When visible, each transit looks like a moving dark spot (a “hole”) on Saturn’s bright disk.

Viewing the Titan Shadow Transits

These transits are faint and require planning. A good telescope (at least 200× magnification) is needed to see Titan and its shadow. For viewers in North America, Saturn will be low in the pre-dawn sky during the event dates. According to Sky & Telescope, the remaining 2025 transit dates are July 2, July 18, August 3, August 19, September 4, September 20 and October 6 (local viewing times vary by location).

Early-season events last several hours, but the crossings shorten as the year goes on: by Oct. 6 the shadow is only visible briefly at the exact mid-transit moment. Observers should consult astronomy software and aim for clear skies on those dates, as any clouds or mist will obscure the subtle shadow.

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NASA’s Chandra Reveals Stunning Multi-Wavelength Image of Andromeda Galaxy

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June 30, 2025

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NASA’s Chandra Reveals Stunning Multi-Wavelength Image of Andromeda Galaxy

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory provides a new look at the Andromeda galaxy in this multi-wavelength image that includes X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, and radio images and illustrates the “collaboration of light” across the spectrum. The structure and future fate of the Milky Way are modelled with the help of Andromeda, which is 2.5 million light years away. This combined image not only shows high-energy radiation from a supermassive black hole but also provides a clear view of the arms and core of M31 in remarkable detail. The light is transformed into a sound with a sonification video, bringing another level of sensation.

Chandra X-ray Data Reveals Black Hole Flares and Dark Matter Legacy in New View of Andromeda

As per NASA’s Chandra team, the X-ray observations — alongside data from ESA’s XMM-Newton, NASA’s GALEX and Spitzer, Planck, IRAS, COBE, Herschel, and more — reveal distinct galactic features. Notably, a flare detected in 2013 from Andromeda’s supermassive black hole showed enhanced X-ray emission. The data also honours astronomer Vera Rubin, whose M31 rotation studies led to the first convincing evidence for dark matter. Rubin is now commemorated on a 2025 U.S. quarter.

Among the release features is a signature sonification, with different categories of light — X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, and radio — translated into sound tones. Volume is controlled by brightness, pitch by frequency position. The result is a sound map of the galaxy’s internal structure.

The Chandra programme for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre in Huntsville, Alabama. Chandra’s overseer is the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

With this updated M31 panorama in hand, astronomers are in for a beautiful sight, but the broader population is also treated to a sight and sound experience that transports us to our Milky Way’s closest galactic neighbour.

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Could These Meteorites Be from Mercury? New Research Hints at Rare Discovery

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June 30, 2025

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Could These Meteorites Be from Mercury? New Research Hints at Rare Discovery

Scientists have observed whether the meteorites can reach Earth from Mercury. Over thousands of meteorites from Mars and the Moon have been observed, but none have been from Mercury, despite it being a nearby rocky planet. A new study revealed Icarus suggests two meteorites, Ksar Ghilane 022 and Northwest Africa 15915, could belong to Mercurian origin. Such a kind of meteorite can offer a realistic opportunity to study the material of the surface of the planet, if the technical challenges and the cost of sending a spacecraft to Mercury are met.

New Meteorite Samples Show Strong Similarities

As per the new studies reported to Physics.org , Meteorite NWA 7325 and aubrites in the past were considered to be possibly from Mercury. However, the mineral composition of their samples has inconsistencies with the known surface data from the Messenger mission of NASA. Aubrites formed on a planet similar in size to Mercury, lacking spectral and chemical similarities, and further weakened as Mercurian fragments.

Ksar Ghilane 022 and NWA 15915, the new samples, share many traits of Mercury crust, with olivine, oldhamite, pyroxene, and minor albitic plagioclase. The oxygen composition of these matched with the aubrites, signalling a similar planetary origin and putting them among strong Mercurian members.

Key Differences Raise Scientific Questions

There are key differences even after that, and the two meteorites contain very little plagioclase than on the Mercury surface, and are about 4,528 million years older than Mercury’s surface material. If they are from Mercury, there is a possibility that they can represent an ancient crust which is no longer visible on the planet.

Future Missions and Scientific Verification

Relating a meteorite to a particular planet is quite difficult without direct samples. BepiColombo missions are orbiting Mercury currently, and can offer valuable insights to confirm meteorites source. Mercurian meteorites can get valuable insights into the formation, composition and history of the planet. There are further findings to be presented at the Meteoritical Society Meeting 2025 in Australia.

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