Researchers revealed Tuesday that an absolutely enormous black hole suddenly “switched on” back in 2019, and no one can figure out why.
Teams at the University of Birmingham, University College London and Queens University in Belfast discovered the supermassive black hole, according to the Royal Astronomical Society. Researchers published and then presented their findings at the National Astronomy Meeting in Cardiff, Wales, but other than spotting the simply enormous cosmic anomaly, not much is known about how or why it suddenly appeared.
“Our understanding of the different things that supermassive black holes can do has greatly expanded in recent years,” the study’s co-author, Matt Nicholl, said in a statement. “[The black hole, named] J221951 is one of the most extreme examples yet of a black hole taking us by surprise.”
In fact, it was such a sudden and bright event that those observing it believed it must have occurred far closer than it actually is. Thankfully, it sits some 10 billion lightyears from Earth. But the fact scientists can observe it, its behavior and its impact on surrounding time-space almost defies what the human brain is capable of processing.
Strange Circles Seen In Space, Baffles Scientists https://t.co/UNZOxCwbxz
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 25, 2022
More than that, this supermassive black hole may have “gobbled up” a star or surrounding matter in “the most spectacular way imaginable,” according to LiveScience. (RELATED: Scientists Think They’ve Solved One Of The Universe’s Biggest Mysteries)
So while we have the ever growing sociological divide of America, soaring crime rates, heightened solar activity and loads of other crazy stuff to be scared of, now we can worry about the sudden appearance of supermassive black holes too. Yay! (Not.)