'Space Jaws': NASA Reveals Roaming Monster Black Hole That's Eating Stars
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the cosmos, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a terrifying, roving, oft-invisible monster dubbed "Space Jaws."
Lurking 600 million light-years away, the supermassive black hole—which has the same mass as some 1 million suns—betrayed its presence when it was caught shredding and then devouring a poor star that got too close.
Dubbed AT2024tvd, the burst of radiation from this "tidal disruption event" (TDE) was also picked up by NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array in New Mexico and Caltech's Palomar Observatory.
Together, the observations revealed that this TDE is unique among the 100-odd detected to date—as it doesn't appear to come from the core of the black hole's host galaxy.
An artist's impression of a supermassive black hole devouring a star.
An artist's impression of a supermassive black hole devouring a star.
NASA, ESA, STScI, Ralf Crawford STScI
"Theorists have predicted that a population of massive black holes located away from the centers of galaxies must exist, but now we can use TDEs to find them," said paper author and astronomer professor Ryan Chornock of the University of California, Berkeley explained in a statement.
"AT2024tvd is the first offset TVD captured by optical sky surveys and it open up the entire possibility of uncovering this elusive population of wandering black holes with future sky surveys," added paper lead and UC Berkeley astrophysicist Yuhan Yao.
Yao added: "Right now, theorists haven't given much attention to offset TDEs. I think this discovery will motivate scientists to look for more examples of this type of event."
The galaxy (orange) and the tidal disruption event (blue) as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
The galaxy (orange) and the tidal disruption event (blue) as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.
NASA, ESA, STScI, Yuhan Yao UC Berkeley); Joseph DePasquale (STScI
In AT2024tvd's host galaxy, there is a second, larger black hole in the galactic core—one weighing some 100 million times the mass of the sun.
Despite being in the same galaxy, the two supermassive holes are not bound together as a gravitational pair.
At present, the two black holes are separated by only around 2,600 light-years (roughly one-tenth of the distance between Earth and Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way's central black hole), with the smaller hole moving around the host galaxy's bulge.
In the future, the smaller black hole may spiral into its larger peer, resulting in the two merging together.
As to how the smaller black hole got so far off-center—it is possible that there were originally three black holes in the galaxy's core, and the other two kicked the runt out of the litter.
This, Yao says, would explain the roaming black hole's current positioning. She explained: "If the black hole went through a triple interaction with two other black holes in the galaxy's core, it can still remain bound to the galaxy, orbiting around the central region."
Alternatively, it is possible that the smaller black hole was once at the center of another, smaller galaxy that collided with the host galaxy at least a billion years ago.
Paper co-author and astronomer Erica Hammerstein, also of UC Berkeley, did not find any evidence of a past galaxy merger in Hubble's images of the galaxy.
However, she said: "There is already good evidence that galaxy mergers enhance TDE rates, but the presence of a second black hole in AT2024tvd's host galaxy means that at some point in this galaxy's past, a merger must have happened."
The full findings of the study will be published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about black holes? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
NASA's New Data Has Scientists Sounding the Alarm on Climate Extremes
The latest satellite data from NASA is painting a troubling picture of Earth's climate, and it's coming into focus faster than expected. According to new research from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, extreme weather events like floods and droughts are not only becoming more common, but also more intense, longer-lasting, and more destructive. The Guardian reported that data from the past five years show these events doubling in intensity compared to averages between 2003 and 2020. Even researchers behind the study admit they didn't anticipate such a dramatic spike. "We were surprised to find the actual population living in rural areas is much higher than the global data indicates," said lead researcher Dr. Bailing Li, who helped compile the figures using NASA's Grace satellite and dam relocation data across 35 countries. The result: a grim confirmation that climate change is fueling a shift in the planet's water systems, and the consequences are just data, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, reveals that global extremes now show a stronger correlation with rising temperatures than with other climate drivers like El Niño. Events are lasting longer, affecting wider areas, and shifting with less predictability—creating what scientists call "hydroclimatic whiplash," sudden transitions from drought to flood or vice versa. What's most worrying isn't just the scale of the change, but how unprepared most of the world remains. Experts say the current infrastructure, especially in water management, was built for a different era—one with a more stable climate. Christopher Gasson of Global Water Intelligence warned that most water systems are facing extremes from both ends—too much water or too little—and that investment must scale quickly to keep up. Meteorologists and climate experts across the globe echoed the concern. Richard Betts of the UK's Met Office called the data "a stark reminder" that what was once theoretical is now reality. He stressed that most societies have built their systems around past weather patterns, leaving them vulnerable to extremes that now fall outside the historical norm. With the World Meteorological Organization predicting an 80% chance that one of the next five years will be Earth's hottest ever, the window for adapting is narrowing. NASA's findings serve as a warning: the planet is heating up, and the consequences are already surging across every New Data Has Scientists Sounding the Alarm on Climate Extremes first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 22, 2025
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Unsung women behind moon landing celebrated in art
More than a thousand unsung women whose circuits helped man land on the moon have inspired two Kent artists to celebrate the historic moment of 1969. The work is based on the female Navajo weavers who were employed for their perceived dexterity to make microchips in New Mexico in the sixties, which were used by NASA in the Apollo Guidance Computer. Moon Landing is by weaver Margo Selby and composer Helen Caddick is a 16m (52ft) handwoven textile suspended from The Trinity Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral, accompanied by an original score for six strings. The tapestry is described as a celebration of the crossover of mathematical patterns, tone and rhythm found in weaving and music and will remain in the chapel until 31 August. Ms Caddick said she was inspired by a weaving tool to compose music about space exploration. She said: "I had gone to see Margo weave and I noticed that she used a shuttle to move the thread along and that made me start to think about space." She added that when she had saw documentaries or films about the space shuttle, she noticed there was an "indicator light flashing in the cabin". "So so I took the rhythm of that to mirror in the harp part," she said. In turn, Ms Selby translated the musician's work into textile art. The textile artist said: "With these incredible carvings and shapes, to see my contemporary work hanging alongside them is truly thrilling." Some 1,200 indigenous people - mostly women - were employed to work at a Fairchild Semiconductor factory in Shiprock, New Mexico, from 1965, during the United States' race to the moon. The manufacturer was tasked with building complicated microchips for NASA's Apollo Guidance Computer, which was integral to space missions. A contemporary brochure from Fairchild compared the intricate work creating elaborate microchips to weaving the Navajo population's traditional tapestries. However, these women who contributed to the space race were largely overlooked in their time. The Dean of Canterbury Cathedral David Monteith said the chapel was excited to celebrate the work of art. "In life sometimes things can become a bit grey scale but this is such an assault of colour that it gladdens the heart and that's such a gift," he said. Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Mars art installation on display at cathedral Girl, 8, uses dad's ham radio to chat to astronaut Canterbury Cathedral
Boston Globe
15 hours ago
- Boston Globe
It turns out weather on other planets is a lot like on Earth
Related : Advertisement But by leveraging the sheer amount of knowledge and data about our planet, scientists can get a head start on understanding the inner workings of storms or vortexes on other planetary bodies. In some cases, the models provide almost everything we know about some otherworldly atmospheric processes. 'Our planetary atmosphere models are derived almost exclusively from these Earth models,' said Scot Rafkin, a planetary meteorologist at the Southwest Research Institute. 'Studying the weather on other planets helps us with Earth and vice versa.' Satellite photo of the Baltic Sea surrounding Gotland, Sweden, with algae bloom swirling in the water. The churning clouds near Jupiter's pole appear like ocean currents on Earth — as if you're looking at small edges and meandering fronts in the Baltic Sea. European Space Agency Vortexes on Jupiter If you looked at the churning clouds near Jupiter's pole, they appear like ocean currents on Earth - as if you're looking at small edges and meandering fronts in the Baltic Sea. 'This looks so much like turbulence I'm seeing in our own ocean. They must be covered by at least some similar dynamics,' Lia Siegelman, a physical oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, recalled the first time she saw images of vortexes from NASA's Juno mission, which entered Jupiter's orbit in 2016. Advertisement Working with planetary scientists, she applied her understanding of the ocean physics on Earth to the gas giant in computer models. Whether it's in air or water on any planet, she found the laws of physics that govern turbulent fluids is the same (even though the vortex on Jupiter is about 10 times larger than one on Earth). When cyclones and anticyclones (which spin in the opposite direction) interact in the ocean, they create a boundary of different water masses and characteristics - known as a front. She and her colleagues found the same phenomenon occurs in cyclones at Jupiter's poles, showing similar swirls. 'By studying convection on Earth, we were also able to spot that phenomenon occurring on Jupiter,' Siegelman said, even though Jupiter has relatively little data compared to Earth. Related : She and her colleagues also found a pattern never seen on Earth before: a cluster of cyclones in a symmetrical, repeating pattern near the poles of Jupiter. These 'polar vortex crystals' were observed in 2016 and have remained in place since. Despite never seeing them on Earth, she and other planetary scientists collaborated to reproduce these swirls in computer models - relying on 'just very simple physics.' 'Planetary scientists use a lot of the weather models that have been developed to study either the ocean or the atmosphere,' Siegelman said. 'By just knowing so much about the ocean and the atmosphere, we can just guide our analysis.' Advertisement This NASA handout photo shows beds of sandstone inclined to the southwest toward Mount Sharp and away from the Gale Crater rim on Mars. HANDOUT Dust storms on Mars If you plan to move to Mars, be prepared to face the dust storms. At their most intense, they can engulf the entire planet and last from days to months. The dirt can block sunlight and coat infrastructure. While scientists have observed many of these storms, they still don't know how to predict them. Dust storms operate similarly on Earth and Mars. Dust is lifted and heated, and rises like a hot-air balloon, Rafkin said. The rising air will suck in air from below to replace it. Air pressure drops near the surface, sucking in more wind that lifts the dust. As Mars spins, the angular momentum causes the dust storm to rotate. In reality, Martian dust storms are more similar to hurricanes on Earth in terms of their scale and circulation, said planetary scientist Claire Newman. She said the sources are different (Mars is a dust planet, whereas Earth is a water planet), but they have a similar effect on temperature and winds. But it's still unknown how these Martian dust storms form. On Earth, a winter storm with a cold front can lift the dust; scientists sometimes see similar dust lifting along cold fronts on Mars, but many storms just seem to pop up. Related : To predict a dust storm, scientists need to understand the circulation patterns on Mars - forecasting the cold front that can lift the dust, for instance. But it's something researchers don't yet understand. Wind measurements are scarce on Mars, aside from a few scattered measurement sites on its surface. With adjustments, Earth-based models can simulate the conditions that can lead to the uplifting winds and dust storms. 'Almost everything that we know about the circulation patterns on Mars come from models,' said Rafkin, adding that scientists 'have effectively no observations of the movement of the air on Mars.' Advertisement In this photo, sand blowing off fields creates a dust storm near Morton, Texas, in May 2021. Dust storms operate similarly on Earth and Mars. Jude Smith/Associated Press The models currently serve as the best way to understand dust storms on the Red Planet, unless more dedicated studies and stations are added, similar to Earth. 'We're basically applying these models to try and get a sense of what the environment is,' said Newman, 'before we send robots or potentially people there.' Rain on Titan The second-largest moon in our solar system, Titan is the only other known world besides Earth that has standing bodies of rivers, lakes and seas on its surface - consisting of liquid methane instead of water. That's partly why some scientists think it could be a future home for Earthlings, if we can just figure out the 750-million-mile journey and learn how to survive the minus-179 degree Celsius surface temperatures. But how did those lakes and oceans fill up? Even though it rains methane, the precipitation on Titan is very similar to that on Earth, Rafkin said. On Earth, take a chunk of air with water vapor, cool it off and the air becomes saturated to form a cloud. Those small cloud droplets can bump into one another or take in more water vapor to grow bigger. But eventually, the water vapor starts to condense into a liquid and brings rain. We've seen this process take place on Earth both naturally in the atmosphere and in labs enough times to understand the physics. But limited observations on Titan - effectively only visiting its atmosphere a handful of times - have caused scientists to turn to models. Using the same underlying physics, scientists can model the cloud-making process on this foreign body. And, the modeled clouds look a lot like the few they have observed in real life on Titan. Advertisement This November 2015 composite image made available by NASA shows an infrared view of Saturn's moon, Titan, as seen by the Cassini spacecraft. Titan is the only other known world besides Earth that has standing bodies of rivers, lakes and seas on its surface. AP 'If we try to model them and we get clouds, but they look totally bizarre and different than what we're observing, then that's an indication that maybe we're not representing the cloud processes correctly,' Rafkin said. 'But as it turns out, for the most part, when we model these things, we can produce clouds that look reasonably close to what we've observed.' Because of its incredibly dense atmosphere, Titan has storm clouds - two to four times taller than those on Earth - that are able to produce feet of methane rain. While scientists haven't observed such huge volumes, they have modeled the deluges based on the surface darkening as a storm passed - similar to how rain on soil or pavement darkens the surface on Earth. It's still a mystery where the methane comes from. But at least we know to bring a very, very sturdy raincoat if we ever visit Titan.
