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Astronomers Confirm First Wandering Supermassive Black Hole Through Tidal Disruption Event

The offset black hole, weighing one million solar masses, was identified 2,600 light-years from its host galaxy's center, marking a groundbreaking discovery in black hole dynamics.

Image
Artist's impression of a massive black hole, located in the dark oval at the center of the swirling cloud, accreting mass from a star (orange) that ventured too close. The star feels a gravitational tug from the black hole that is stronger on one side than on the other, which eventually rips the star apart. In the process, stellar material starts flowing onto the black hole, part of which is captured and the rest ejected, producing a sudden boost in luminosity, especially in X-rays.
Hubble spots a black hole swallowing a Sun 100 million times the size of ours
Image of a black background with a blurry orange disk at center, and a bright spot off to one side of the middle of the disk.

Overview

  • The tidal disruption event AT2024tvd revealed a supermassive black hole roaming 600 million light-years away, offset from its galaxy’s nucleus.
  • This is the first recorded offset tidal disruption event among approximately 100 known cases, expanding the understanding of black hole behavior.
  • The wandering black hole, with a mass of one million suns, coexists with a central black hole 100 times its size, yet they are not gravitationally bound.
  • Multi-wavelength observations from Hubble, Chandra, and the Very Large Array confirmed the black hole’s off-center location and its star-shredding activity.
  • The black hole’s displacement may result from a three-body gravitational interaction or a past galaxy merger, with further research ongoing to determine its origin.