Black Hole Throws Off Its Rhythm ⚡ экспресс
Scientists have precisely measured for the first time how flares from a black hole in a distant galaxy speed up or slow down. Unexpectedly, the gaps between flares grew longer — as if the orbital dance slowed down when it should have sped up. Why did nature decide to hit the brakes? For now, it's a mystery.
Astronomers are monitoring X-ray flares from the vicinity of a black hole at the center of a galaxy. These flares repeat with a certain rhythm, like heartbeats. Normally, as a star approaches a black hole, the rhythm speeds up — just as a pulse quickens when running. But at the black hole 'Ansky,' the rhythm is slowing down. Each successive beat lags more than the previous one: over a day, the gap grows by almost half an hour. It's as if the heart, instead of racing under stress, were slowing to a halt.
Nobody yet knows why this rhythm is slowing. Perhaps we're missing some fundamental process — for instance, an unknown way of losing energy.
🎯 Each flare lasts several hours, while the intervals between them can span months. The change in tempo has been measured with jeweler's precision: 0.017 days per day — roughly 24 minutes of daily lag.