Scientists have been left baffled by an incredibly bright black hole which was discovered recently.
Per a new research paper, scientists at the University of Michigan have discovered a luminous black hole system in the Pinwheel Galaxy, a neighboring galaxy that is located near the Milky Way and is only 22 million light years away.
The black hole appears to be a lot brighter than what scientists had anticipated.
"As if black holes weren't extreme enough, this is a really extreme one that is shining as brightly as it possibly can," study co-author Joel Bregman of the University of Michigan said in a statement. "It's figured out a way to be more luminous than we thought possible."
The November 27 issue of the scientific journal Nature details the discovery, which may compel scientists to rethink the theories that are currently existent and are used to explain the mechanism behind the radiation of light and heat by black holes.
The research involved the study of ULX-1, a system which comprises a black hole and a star that orbit each other.
The astronomers studied a system called ULX-1, short for ultraluminous X-ray source, which consists of a black hole and a companion star that orbit each other. ULX-1 radiates ample amount of high X-ray light which is emitted because of material spiraling down into the black hole.
Researchers previously suspected that ULX-1 comprises an intermediate mass black hole, which is why the light emitted was intense. However, the current study hints that the black hole is on the smaller side.
"Our findings may turn the trend of taking ultraluminous X-ray sources as promising intermediate black hole candidates," said study leader Jifeng Liu to SPACE.com via email.
However, the study's team is not sure how ULX-1 is able to radiate so much light. A possibility, however, exists that black hole is feeding off its companion star's stellar wind.
"Our work shows, based on our conclusion of a stellar mass black hole, that our understanding of the black hole radiation mechanism is incomplete and needs revision," notes Liu.
