However, scientists in a recent study noticed something very strange – a black hole that shines very brightly and throws out, as it were belches, the material left from the star it swallowed.
Black holes are of great interest to astronomers because they allow them to observe and test the laws of physics under the most extreme conditions.
Sometimes these gravitational behemoths will swallow up stars and other objects in their vicinity, releasing enormous amounts of light and radiation.
In October 2018, astronomers witnessed one such event while observing a black hole in a galaxy 665 million light-years from Earth.
Although astronomers have seen such encounters before, a team from Harvard and the Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics noticed something unprecedented while studying the same black hole three years later.
As they explained in the new study, the black hole shone so brightly because it was ejecting leftover material from the star that was flying at half the speed of light.
The scientists’ findings could provide insight into how black holes “feed” and grow over time.
The research was published in the scientific journal Astrophysical Journal.
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