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Black holes, celestial objects known for their gluttony, usually eat stars unlucky enough to stray too close to them in one big gulp, annihilating them with their enormous gravitational pull. But some, it turns out, tend to snack rather than gorge.

Researchers said they have observed a supermassive black hole at the center of a relatively nearby galaxy as it takes bites out of a star similar in size and composition to our sun, consuming material equal to about three times Earth‘s mass each time the star makes a close pass on its elongated oval-shaped obit.

Black holes are extraordinarily dense objects with gravity so strong that not even light can escape.

The star is located about 520 million light years from our solar system. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km). It was observed being plundered by a supermassive black hole at the heart of a spiral-shaped galaxy. 

As such black holes go, this one is relatively small, estimated to have a mass a few hundred thousand times larger than the sun. The supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, called Sagittarius A*, possesses about 4 million times the mass of our sun. Some other galaxies harbor supermassive black holes hundreds of millions times the mass of the sun.

Most galaxies have such black holes at their center, and the environment around them can be among the most violent places in the universe.

Most of the data used by the scientists in the new study came from NASA‘s orbiting Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. 

The star was observed orbiting the black hole every 20 to 30 days. At one end of its orbit, it ventures near enough to the black hole to have some material from its stellar atmosphere sucked away, or accreted, each time it passes — but not so close as to have the whole star shredded. Such an event is called a “repeating partial tidal disruption.” 

The stellar material that falls into the black hole heats up to around 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit (2 million degrees Celsius), unleashing an immense amount of X-rays. Those were detected by the space observatory.

“What’s most likely to happen is the star’s orbit will gradually decay and it will get closer and closer to the supermassive black hole until it gets close enough to be completely disrupted,” said astrophysicist Rob Eyles-Ferris of the University of Leicester in England, one of the authors of the study published this week in the journal Nature Astronomy.

“That process is likely to take years at least — more likely decades or centuries,” Eyles-Ferris added.

This marked the first time that scientists had observed a sun-like star being repeatedly snacked upon by a supermassive black hole. 

“There are lots of unanswered questions about tidal disruption events and exactly how the orbit of the star affects them,” Eyles-Ferris said. “It’s a very fast-moving field at the moment. This one has shown us that new discoveries could come at any time.”

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Aditya L1 Solar Mission Begins Studying Energetic Particles in Solar Wind

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September 22, 2023

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Aditya L1 Solar Mission Begins Studying Energetic Particles in Solar Wind

After India’s solar mission, Aditya L1 began its journey towards Lagrange point 1 following a key manoeuvre, it has started studying energetic particles in the solar wind from space and will continue to do so for the rest of its life, a senior astrophysicist said. The study of the solar wind, the continuous flow of charged particles from the sun which permeates the solar system, will be carried out with the help of a device named Supra Thermal & Energetic Particle Spectrometer (STEPS), a part of the Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX) payload.

“STEPS is now working from space. However, it was not sitting idle earlier. It has started functioning from within the magnetic field of the Earth since September 10 when Aditya was 52,000 kilometres above our planet,” Dr Dibyendu Chakrabarty, professor of Space and Atmospheric Sciences at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) said.
STEPS was developed by the PRL with support from the Space Application Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad.

“During the travel time of four months (till Aditya L1 reaches its destination), it will study energetic particles in the solar wind. The data will help maintain the health and performance of our space assets in a better way,” Dr Chakrabarty told PTI.

The key aim of STEPS is to study the environment of energetic particles from the spacecraft’s position on the L1 point till it will function, he said. “The data from STEPS in the long term will also help us understand how space weather changes,” the space scientist said.

STEPS comprises six sensors, each observing in different directions and measuring supra-thermal and energetic ions. The data collected during the Earth’s orbits helps scientists to analyse the behaviour of particles surrounding the planet, especially in the presence of its magnetic field.

Aditya-L1, launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 2, will go up to the First Lagrangian point, about 1.5 million km from the Earth ISRO on September 18 said on X: “Off to Sun-Earth L1 point! The Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) manoeuvre is performed successfully. The spacecraft is now on a trajectory that will take it to the Sun-Earth L1 point.” Lagrangian points are where gravitational forces, acting between two objects, balance each other in such a way that the spacecraft can ‘hover’ for a longer period of time.

The L1 point is considered the most significant of the Lagrangian points, for solar observations, which were discovered by mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange. 

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Elon Musk’s Neuralink Receives Approval to Start Brain Implant Human Trial

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September 22, 2023

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Elon Musk's Neuralink Receives Approval to Start Brain Implant Human Trial

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk‘s brain-chip startup Neuralink said on Tuesday it has received approval from an independent review board to begin recruitment for the first human trial of its brain implant for paralysis patients.

Those with paralysis due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may qualify for the study, it said but did not reveal how many participants would be enrolled in the trial, which will take about six years to complete.

The study will use a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface (BCI) implant in a region of the brain that controls the intention to move, Neuralink said, adding that its initial goal is to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone.

The company, which had earlier hoped to receive approval to implant its device in 10 patients, was negotiating a lower number of patients with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after the agency raised safety concerns, according to current and former employees. It is not known how many patients the FDA ultimately approved.

Musk has grand ambitions for Neuralink, saying it would facilitate speedy surgical insertions of its chip devices to treat conditions like obesity, autism, depression and schizophrenia.

In May, the company said it had received clearance from the FDA for its first-in-human clinical trial when it was already under federal scrutiny for its handling of animal testing.

Even if the BCI device proves to be safe for human use, it would still potentially take more than a decade for the startup to secure commercial use clearance for it, according to experts.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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ISRO’s Aditya-L1 Performs TL1I Manoeuvre, Set to Reach Sun-Earth L1 Point

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September 22, 2023

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Aditya L1 Solar Mission Begins Studying Energetic Particles in Solar Wind

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Tuesday that its maiden solar mission — Aditya-L1 — has performed the Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) manoeuvre successfully and the spacecraft was now in a trajectory that will take it to the Sun-Earth L1 point. ISRO also informed that it marked the fifth consecutive time that the ISRO had successfully transferred an object on a trajectory toward another celestial body or location in space.

A post on the ISRO official handle on social media platform X read, “Aditya-L1 Mission | Off to Sun-Earth L1 point | The Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) manoeuvre is performed successfully. The spacecraft is now on a trajectory that will take it to the Sun-Earth L1 point. It will be injected into an orbit around L1 through a manoeuvre after about 110 days. This is the fifth consecutive time ISRO has successfully transferred an object on a trajectory toward another celestial body or location in space.”

Earlier, a launcher carrying the Aditya-L1 spacecraft blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Station at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The primary objectives of India’s maiden solar mission include collecting scientific data and marking another milestone in India’s solar exploration efforts.

The agency had earlier posted on X, “Aditya-L1 Mission: Aditya-L1 has commenced collecting scientific data. The sensors of the STEPS instrument have begun measuring supra-thermal and energetic ions and electrons at distances greater than 50,000 km from Earth. This data helps scientists analyze the behaviour of particles surrounding Earth. The figure displays variations in the energetic particle environment, collected by one of the units.”

The Supra Thermal and Energetic Particle Spectrometer (STEPS) instrument, a part of the Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX) payload, also started its data-gathering operations earlier. 

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