Skip to main content

Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

3 comments

The Galaxy That Lost 95% of Its Brightness in 20 Years

Imagine looking into the night sky and seeing a galaxy, billions of light-years away, slowly dimming its light before your eyes. This is not science fiction—it is exactly what astronomers have recently observed. About ten billion light-years from Earth, a galaxy known as J0218−0036 has experienced an astonishing decrease in brightness, dropping to one-twentieth of its original luminosity in just twenty years. This rare cosmic event offers a window into the dramatic lives of galaxies and the supermassive black holes at their centers.

A Rare Discovery Across Time and Space

An international team of astronomers led by the Chiba Institute of Technology uncovered this extraordinary phenomenon. By combining multi-wavelength observations—from optical to infrared and radio—with archival data spanning decades, the researchers traced how the galaxy's central brightness sharply declined. They concluded that the cause was a rapid decrease in the flow of gas into the galaxy's supermassive black hole, the engine powering its core.

Most galaxies, including our Milky Way, harbor supermassive black holes at their centers. These cosmic giants can weigh hundreds of millions of times the mass of the Sun. Gas and dust falling toward the black hole form an accretion disk, a swirling structure that heats up due to friction, emitting enormous amounts of energy. When this process is active, the galaxy’s core shines brightly, forming what astronomers call an active galactic nucleus (AGN).

However, when the supply of gas diminishes, the black hole’s energy output drops, and the galaxy appears to fade. In the case of J0218−0036, the galaxy seems to have entered such a phase—a rapid dimming period caused by a sudden decline in the mass accretion rate.

Observing the Dimming in Real Time

The team, which included experts from the University of Potsdam, University of Toyama, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, and Ritsumeikan University, compared images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with those from the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) on the Subaru Telescope. They found that the galaxy’s brightness had fallen to about 5% of its original level over just two decades—a dramatic drop far beyond the usual 30% variation typical for AGNs.

Following this, the team conducted immediate follow-up observations with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), and supplemented these with new optical and near-infrared observations from the Subaru Telescope and the W. M. Keck Observatory, along with radio measurements. Archival X-ray, infrared, and photographic data spanning almost 70 years were also analyzed. This comprehensive, multi-wavelength approach allowed scientists to track changes in the galaxy’s core with unprecedented precision.

A Rapid Decline in Gas Flow

By comparing the observed changes with theoretical models, researchers estimated that the mass accretion rate of the black hole dropped to one-fiftieth of its previous level in just seven years. This suggests that the black hole’s food supply—gas from its surroundings—may be rapidly depleting.

Some alternate explanations, such as a dust cloud temporarily blocking the light, were considered but ultimately ruled out. Such a scenario could not account for the simultaneous decrease observed across optical and infrared wavelengths. Instead, the evidence points to a fundamental change in the physical state of the accretion disk, although the exact mechanism causing such a rapid transformation remains unknown.

A Human Timescale for Cosmic Change

What makes this discovery particularly exciting is the timescale of the change. Until now, astronomers believed that variations in supermassive black hole activity occurred over tens of thousands of years or longer, making them impossible to observe within a human lifetime. The dimming of J0218−0036 proves that dramatic changes can happen in just decades, allowing us to witness the “life cycle” of a galaxy in real time.

“It’s fascinating that an active galactic nucleus can change its brightness so dramatically in such a short period of time, and that this dimming appears to be caused by a large change in the accretion rate toward the supermassive black hole,” says Tomoki Morokuma of the Chiba Institute of Technology, who led the study. “Using wide-field survey data, such as those from Hyper Suprime-Cam, we hope to discover more objects like this and understand how the activity of supermassive black holes stops and restarts.”

Toshihiro Kawaguchi of the University of Toyama adds, “This object exhibits rapid variability that standard models cannot explain. It represents an important case study for the development of new theoretical models. We will investigate what physical conditions could reproduce the observed behavior.”

The Power of Wide-Field Surveys

This discovery highlights the importance of wide-field surveys in modern astronomy. These surveys can efficiently observe vast regions of the sky and detect rare or rapidly changing objects. By combining data collected at different wavelengths and over long periods, astronomers can reveal long-term changes in supermassive black holes that would otherwise go unnoticed.

If future surveys uncover numerous AGNs that are “dying out” or entering dormant phases, scientists will gain valuable insights into the evolution of galaxies and their central black holes. Observing these changes in real time allows astronomers to refine their models and better understand the complex physics driving galaxy evolution.

Implications for Our Understanding of the Universe

The case of J0218−0036 challenges long-held assumptions about the stability of AGNs. It shows that galactic centers are far more dynamic than previously thought and that the feeding of supermassive black holes can stop abruptly, dramatically altering a galaxy’s appearance. This has significant implications for our understanding of how galaxies grow, evolve, and interact with their central black holes.

The study also demonstrates that even galaxies billions of light-years away can provide insights that are directly observable within a human lifetime. By tracking these changes, astronomers are essentially watching the cosmic clock in action, witnessing events that were once considered impossible to observe.

Looking Ahead

The researchers are optimistic that continued observations will reveal more galaxies undergoing similar transitions. By studying multiple AGNs in different stages of activity, astronomers hope to unlock the mechanisms behind rapid changes in black hole feeding and understand the broader role of black holes in shaping galaxy evolution.

As Morokuma emphasizes, “Wide-field imaging surveys are opening a new window on the universe. Discovering objects like J0218−0036 allows us to study supermassive black holes in ways that were unimaginable just a few decades ago.”

This discovery marks a new chapter in the study of galaxies and black holes, proving that even on the grandest scales, the universe is far from static. In just a few decades, a galaxy can fade, providing an extraordinary opportunity for astronomers to witness cosmic history in the making.

References & Further Reading:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular

Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

For years, scientists believed that adding even one qubit (a unit of quantum information) to a black hole needed energy. This was based on the idea that a black hole’s entropy must increase with more information, which means it must gain energy. But a new study by Jonah Kudler-Flam and Geoff Penington changes that thinking. They found that quantum information can be teleported into a black hole without adding energy or increasing entropy . This works through a process called black hole decoherence , where “soft” radiation — very low-energy signals — carry information into the black hole. In their method, the qubit enters the black hole while a new pair of entangled particles (like Hawking radiation) is created. This keeps the total information balanced, so there's no violation of the laws of physics. The energy cost only shows up when information is erased from the outside — these are called zerobits . According to Landauer’s principle, erasing information always needs energy. But ...
3 comments
Read more

Black Holes That Never Dies

Black holes are powerful objects in space with gravity so strong that nothing can escape them. In the 1970s, Stephen Hawking showed that black holes can slowly lose energy by giving off tiny particles. This process is called Hawking radiation . Over time, the black hole gets smaller and hotter, and in the end, it disappears completely. But new research by Menezes and his team shows something different. Using a theory called Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) , they studied black holes with quantum corrections. In their model, the black hole does not vanish completely. Instead, it stops shrinking when it reaches a very small size. This leftover is called a black hole remnant . They also studied something called grey-body factors , which affect how much energy escapes from a black hole. Their findings show that the black hole cools down and stops losing mass once it reaches a minimum mass . This new model removes the idea of a “singularity” at the center of the black hole and gives us a better ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Planetary Movements Might Explain Sunspot Cycles and Solar Phenomena

Sunspots, dark patches on the Sun's surface, follow a cycle of increasing and decreasing activity every 11 years. For years, scientists have relied on the dynamo model to explain this cycle. According to this model, the Sun's magnetic field is generated by the movement of plasma and the Sun's rotation. However, this model does not fully explain why the sunspot cycle is sometimes unpredictable. Lauri Jetsu, a researcher, has proposed a new approach. Jetsu’s analysis, using a method called the Discrete Chi-square Method (DCM), suggests that planetary movements, especially those of Earth, Jupiter, and Mercury, play a key role in driving the sunspot cycle. His theory focuses on Flux Transfer Events (FTEs), where the magnetic fields of these planets interact with the Sun’s magnetic field. These interactions could create the sunspots and explain other solar phenomena like the Sun’s magnetic polarity reversing every 11 years. The Sun, our closest star, has been a subject of scient...
Post a Comment
Read more