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Astronomers have found a black hole that, five years after tearing a star apart, pulses in X-rays with a double rhythm — a main beat and a hot flurry.
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Five years ago, a black hole tore a star apart. Now from that same spot, X-ray “pulses” strike every 12 hours, and on their crests, even hotter and shorter micro-bursts flare. This cosmic arrhythmia is a key to the future “gravitational music” of black hole mergers.
🎯 A star being ripped apart by a black hole is a once-in-10,000-to-100,000-year event for each large galaxy; catching one in real time happens once in an astronomer’s generation.