Giovanni Miniutti

In the center of galaxy J2344 five years ago, a black hole tore apart a star, and now scorching gas bubbles there — a cosmic “stew pot”. Every 12 hours, giant X-ray bubbles rise in it, and on their ascent, super-hot splashes lasting 5–30 minutes appear.

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.

At the heart of galaxy 1ES 1927+654, a black hole behaves like a lighthouse with a faulty mechanism. Every six and a half minutes, it releases a burst of X-ray light, a rhythm astronomers have been tracking since 2022. At first, the beacon's tempo wandered — speeding up and slowing down, with intervals ranging from one beat every eighteen minutes to one every seven.

A giant black hole tore apart a star, leaving behind a lopsided disk of scorching gas — like a vinyl record warped by the heat. Now a tiny black hole (or a star) zips around and repeatedly pierces that disk. Each puncture is a bright X-ray flare.