An international team led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) has discovered a nearby galaxy whose central black hole is undergoing an extraordinary, long-lasting radio outburst unlike anything previously observed. Although located just 1.8 billion light-years away, the rapidly growing, low-mass black hole exhibits properties expected for black holes in the early Universe, making it a unique local laboratory for studying how the first black holes formed and launched powerful jets. The findings, based on multi-wavelength observations including the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope, open a new window on black hole evolution and were published in The Astrophysical Journal (DOI).
Read the press release here.
Image (Credit): Illustration of the black hole at the centre of the galaxy SDSS J110546.07+145202.4. The luminous disk of matter surrounds the event horizon, while a concentrated jet of particles and radiation is ejected into space. This newly launched jet is revealed by intense radio radiation that has been emanating from the centre of the galaxy for several years. / Image generated with AI.