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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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Amber Found in Antarctica for the First Time

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Amber Found in Antarctica for the First Time

The discovery of amber in Antarctica has been reported for the first time, as detailed in a recent study published in Antarctic Science. Dr. Johann Klages from the University of Bremen, alongside a team of researchers, uncovered this specimen in sediment cores from the Pine Island trough in West Antarctica. This ancient amber, originating from approximately 83 to 92 million years ago during the mid-Cretaceous period, offers valuable insights into prehistoric environmental conditions near the South Pole.

Unveiling the First Antarctic Amber

The study was published in Antarctic Science journal and reveals that the amber, known as Pine Island amber, was retrieved using the MARUM-MeBo70 drill rig during a 2017 expedition on the RV Polarstern vessel. This mid-Cretaceous resin is considered a significant breakthrough as it suggests that a swampy temperate rainforest, dominated by coniferous trees, thrived in the region during a much warmer period in Earth’s history. According to Dr. Henny Gerschel from the Saxon State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology, the amber likely contains tiny fragments of tree bark, preserved through micro-inclusions. Its solid, translucent quality indicates that it was buried close to the surface, protecting it from thermal degradation.

Insights into Prehistoric Forest Ecosystems

The presence of pathological resin flow within the amber offers clues into the defence mechanisms used by ancient trees against environmental stressors like parasites or wildfires. “This discovery hints at a much richer forest ecosystem near the South Pole during the mid-Cretaceous,” Dr. Klages explained, noting the resin’s defensive chemical and physical properties that protected it from insect attacks and infections.

Reconstructing Ancient Antarctic Environments

The amber’s discovery marks a key step in reconstructing ancient polar climates, supporting the idea that temperate forests once spanned across all continents. Researchers aim to explore further by analysing whether signs of past life are preserved in the amber. This study, beyond unearthing Antarctic amber, opens new opportunities to deepen understanding of Earth’s climatic past and the adaptability of prehistoric ecosystems.

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An Asteroid Burned Up Over California Just Hours After Being Spotted

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An Asteroid Burned Up Over California Just Hours After Being Spotted

An asteroid measuring roughly one metre in diameter impacted Earth’s atmosphere on October 22, 2024, only hours after its initial detection. Discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Hawaii, the object — named 2024 UQ — approached the planet undetected by global impact monitoring systems before disintegrating over the Pacific Ocean off California’s coast. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre later confirmed the event in its November newsletter, reporting that tracking data for the asteroid did not reach monitoring systems until after the impact had already taken place.

Limited Tracking Data Due to Detection Timing

According to ESA’s November newsletter, 2024 UQ had been picked up by ATLAS’ sky-monitoring telescopes. However, the asteroid was only identified as a moving object minutes before it entered Earth’s atmosphere due to its location between two adjacent sky fields in the survey system. This detection delay meant that essential tracking data was delayed and unavailable for impact monitoring centres, which track potential near-Earth object (NEO) threats. Confirmation of the asteroid’s impact was made possible by data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES weather satellites and NASA’s Catalina Sky Survey, which recorded flashes that confirmed the entry of 2024 UQ.

Third Imminent Impact Event in 2024

This incident marked the third imminent impactor event in 2024. In January, a similar object designated as 2024 BX1 burned up over Berlin, while another asteroid, 2024 RW1, exploded above the Philippines in September, with footage of the fireball captured by local observers. These instances underscore the rarity yet growing frequency of small asteroids entering Earth’s atmosphere undetected.

Global Efforts to Monitor Near-Earth Objects

Planetary defence remains a priority as space agencies worldwide develop systems to track potentially hazardous objects. In addition to projects like ATLAS and the Catalina Sky Survey, NASA’s upcoming NEO Surveyor mission aims to use infrared technology to enhance detection capabilities. ESA’s NEO Coordination Centre continues its work on tracking near-Earth objects, while deflection experiments, including NASA’s DART mission in 2022, are also underway to test potential asteroid redirection strategies.

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NASA’s Swift Discovers Twin Black Holes Disturbing Galactic Gas Cloud

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NASA's Swift Discovers Twin Black Holes Disturbing Galactic Gas Cloud

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has detected a unique signal from two enormous black holes, locked in a cosmic dance that disturbs a dense gas cloud at the centre of a distant galaxy. The phenomenon, known as AT 2021hdr, has sparked considerable interest among astronomers, with researchers observing an unusual cycle of gas disruptions as the black holes orbit one another.

This gas-churning event was first documented in March 2021 by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) at the Palomar Observatory, California. Led by Dr Lorena Hernández-García, astrophysicist at the Millennium Institute of Astrophysics and the University of Valparaíso in Chile, a study into AT 2021hdr reveals a recurring flare, a pattern that scientists suggest results from the black holes’ gravitational influence on a massive gas cloud. The findings, which appear in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, describe how these giant objects tug and heat the gas, triggering light oscillations across different wavelengths.

Uncovering the Source of AT 2021hdr

Located in galaxy 2MASX J21240027+3409114, about 1 billion light-years away in the Cygnus constellation, these black holes together possess a mass 40 million times that of the Sun. Their close proximity—just 16 billion miles apart—produces observable light variations every 130 days. This frequency, scientists predict, could eventually culminate in the black holes’ merger in approximately 70,000 years.

Initially considered a supernova, the recurring nature of these outbursts led astronomers to reevaluate their assumptions. Dr Alejandra Muñoz-Arancibia, a researcher with ALeRCE and the University of Chile, noted that frequent observations over 2022 helped to develop a more precise understanding of this phenomenon. Since November 2022, Swift’s ultraviolet and X-ray observations have aligned with ZTF’s findings in visible light, reinforcing the theory of an orbiting gas cloud undergoing a cyclical disturbance by the black holes’ gravitational forces.

Future Studies and Implications

This discovery offers a unique perspective on supermassive black hole interactions. Continued studies of AT 2021hdr and its host galaxy—currently merging with another—are expected to provide new insights into galactic evolution and black hole behaviour.

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