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Black holes are some of the most intriguing objects in the universe, yet scientists still have a lot to learn when it comes to understanding their mysterious behaviour.
Black holes are characterized by chaotic eating, which causes them to swallow anything in their path. But what astronomers didn’t realize is that these cosmic monsters then “burp” an eclectic mix of stars, gases, planets, and dust that they devoured years ago.
The astronomers made the discovery after spending years observing black holes involved in tidal disruption events, or TDEs.
Traditionally, objects have only been studied for a few months after a “turbulence event,” which is when stars get too close to a black hole and are torn apart in a process called a spaghetti event.
Although black holes can’t be observed directly, scientists can witness “turbulence events” because these events emit light, radio, and other waves for up to a few weeks or months in the process.
When this happens, some of the remaining gas and dust from the destroyed star is blown away from the black hole. The rest then forms a thin, flying saucer-like structure around it called the accretion disk, which gradually feeds that stellar material into the black hole.
But what scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have discovered is that some of this material can reappear between two and six years after a SWT event.
They found that in up to 50% of cases, black holes “burp up” stellar matter years after the “violent wave perturbation event”, although there is no idea why.
“If you look years later, a very large portion of these black holes that have no radio emission at these early times will suddenly ‘run’ in radio waves,” lead author and UCLA co-investigator Yvette Sindis told Live Science. “I call it belching because we are experiencing a kind of delay where this material does not come out of the accretion disc until much later than expected. The question is, where is it stored before it is burped out again?”
Scientists know for sure that this remnant does not come from inside a black hole, because objects have an event horizon where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape.
“We don’t fully understand if the material detected in radio waves is coming from the accretion disk or if it is stored somewhere near the black hole,” Sindis added.
Scientists plan to continue monitoring the black holes they were observing, especially since some of them are still brighter after the “violent wave perturbation event.”
They are also seeking to improve computer models to better represent how black holes “burp” years later, which experts hope will enhance understanding of this strange behavior.
Daily Mail
