This black hole exploded a star it swallowed two years ago

As a black hole engulfs a star, it pulls the star into a long noodle-like shape that wraps around the black hole like spaghetti around a fork. Scientists also call it spaghettification. Sometimes black holes leave some stars behind, which astronomers call burps. When this happens, it is usually immediate. But scientists recently saw a black hole explode more than two years after destroying a star. This has never been seen before and scientists have no idea what will happen next.

We saw the news Live Science. The team noticed that a black hole that swallowed a star in 2018 has reactivated. According to a Press release, the original event was called AT2018hyz and faded after a few months. But when it lit up again, scientists studied this long-delayed burp using the Very Large Array telescope in New Mexico, along with others on Earth and in orbit. They published peer-reviewed results Journal of Astrophysics.

Lead author of the study, Yvette Sandes, a postdoctoral fellow and science writer. He revealed in the Twitter thread below that he referred to the “hell bright” black hole as JT McJetface. Which is definitely more memorable than the AT2018hyz.

Scientists are able to take good Picture of a black hole than before, incl jet of particles They throw out. But they don’t always check back after eating a star. It could be that this is a widespread phenomenon and we just aren’t looking. Sendes said the team has no idea what will happen next, but will find out.

Melissa is a science and technology staff writer for Nerdist. He moderates “Science of” panels at the convention and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow him Twitter @melissatruth.