Black hole’s winds going faster than 37,000 miles per second

By Stephen Beech

A flaring black hole whips up ultra-fast winds of more than 37,000 miles per SECOND, reveals new research.

X-ray space telescopes spotted a never-seen-before blast from a supermassive black hole.

The gravitational "monster" whipped up powerful winds in just hours, flinging material out into space at breath-taking speeds of 60,000 kilometers per second (37,282 miles per second).

The gigantic black hole lurks within NGC 3783, a spiral galaxy imaged recently by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomers spotted a bright X-ray flare erupt from the black hole before swiftly fading away.

But, as it faded, fast winds emerged, raging at one-fifth of the speed of light, according to a study published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Lead researcher Dr. Liyi Gu, of Space Research Organisation Netherlands (SRON), said: “We’ve not watched a black hole create winds this speedily before.

“For the first time, we’ve seen how a rapid burst of X-ray light from a black hole immediately triggers ultra-fast winds, with these winds forming in just a single day.”

To study NGC 3783 and its black hole, Dr. Gu and his colleagues simultaneously used the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton and the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM).

Dr. Gu explained that the black hole in question is as massive as 30 million Suns.

As it feasts on nearby material, it powers an "extremely bright" and active region at the heart of the spiral galaxy.

The region - known as an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) - blazes in all kinds of light, and throws powerful jets and winds out into the cosmos.

Study co-author Dr. Matteo Guainazzi said: “AGNs are really fascinating and intense regions, and key targets for both XMM-Newton and XRISM.

“The winds around this black hole seem to have been created as the AGN’s tangled magnetic field suddenly ‘untwisted’ – similar to the flares that erupt from the Sun, but on a scale almost too big to imagine.”

He explained that the winds from the black hole resemble large solar eruptions of material known as coronal mass ejections, which form as the Sun hurls streams of superheated material into space.

The study shows that supermassive black holes sometimes act like our own star, making the mysterious objects seem a little less alien.

A coronal mass ejection following an intense flare was spotted at the Sun as recently as November 11, with the winds associated with the event thrown out at initial speeds of 1,500 kms (932 miles) per second.

Research team member Dr. Camille Diez, a European Space Agency (ESA) research fellow, said: “Windy AGNs also play a big role in how their host galaxies evolve over time, and how they form new stars.

“Because they’re so influential, knowing more about the magnetism of AGNs, and how they whip up winds such as these, is key to understanding the history of galaxies throughout the Universe.”

XMM-Newton has been a pioneering explorer of the universe for over 25 years, while XRISM has been working to answer key questions about how matter and energy move through the cosmos since it launched in September 2023.

The two X-ray space telescopes worked together to uncover the unique event and understand the black hole’s flare and winds.

XMM-Newton tracked the evolution of the initial flare, and assessed the extent of the winds using its European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC).

XRISM spotted the flare and winds using its Resolve instrument, also studying the winds’ speed, structure, and figuring out how they were launched into space.

ESA XMM-Newton project scientist Dr. Erik Kuulkers said: “By zeroing in on an active supermassive black hole, the two telescopes have found something we’ve not seen before: rapid, ultra-fast, flare-triggered winds reminiscent of those that form at the Sun."

He added: "Excitingly, this suggests that solar and high-energy physics may work in surprisingly familiar ways throughout the Universe.”