When a black hole spins rapidly, it drags the space around it, akin to a whirlpool in water. This phenomenon is called Lense-Thirring precession.
Researchers focused on a rare event where a star ventured too close to a supermassive black hole, designated AT2020afhd. The intense gravitational force shredded the star, gathering its debris into a swirling disk. Concurrently, jets of matter were ejected at nearly the speed of light, providing a unique cosmic scene for study.
Illustration image Pixabay
By analyzing X-ray and radio signals, the team noted that the disk and the jets oscillated in unison, with a regular rhythm of twenty days. This synchronization indicates that space-time itself is being pulled by the black hole's rotation, thereby confirming the predictions of general relativity with unprecedented accuracy.
To achieve these results, scientists utilized data from telescopes such as the Swift Observatory and the Very Large Array. These instruments made it possible to track optical and radio variations, revealing repetitive patterns that betray the twisting of space. A spectroscopic analysis also contributed to understanding the composition of the surrounding material.
The work, published in
Science Advances, represents a major milestone in astrophysics. It allows for a better understanding of black hole properties and strengthens our comprehension of the fundamental laws that govern the cosmos, without requiring excessively complex technology.
An artist's impression shows the accretion disk around a black hole, where the inner region wobbles. This corresponds to a change in the orientation of the orbit of matter around the central object.
Credit: NASA How do black holes tear stars apart?
When a star gets too close to a supermassive black hole, it undergoes a tidal disruption event, or TDE. The black hole's gravitational force is so intense that it stretches the star, tearing it apart. This process releases a tremendous amount of energy, visible as light and radiation across vast distances.
The stellar debris then forms an accretion disk around the black hole, spinning at high speeds. This disk heats up and emits radiation, particularly in X-rays, while some of the matter can be ejected as powerful jets. These jets travel at nearly the speed of light, creating radio signatures detectable by Earth-based telescopes.
These events are rare but offer a unique window into black hole dynamics. They allow observation of how matter is drawn in and transformed, revealing details about the rotation and mass of the central object. TDEs thus serve as natural laboratories for testing theories under extreme conditions.