A galaxy known as 1ES 1927 + 654 has ceased X-ray emissions for several months, only to resume them later with increased intensity.
“This phenomenon marks the first time X-rays have been completely absent while other wavelengths continue to emit light,” said Sibasish Laha, the lead author of the study and a scientist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
Illustration of a supermassive black hole. (Image: NASA)
If scientists can confirm that this phenomenon is due to a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy changing its magnetic field, this event could help astrophysicists understand how such changes affect the black hole’s environment.
The Milky Way has a supermassive black hole at its center, which pulls matter toward it. This matter accumulates in an accretion disk around the black hole, heating up and emitting light (visible wavelengths, ultraviolet, and X-rays) as it spirals inward.
The inward-moving material forms a cloud of extremely hot particles that scientists refer to as a corona. The new study indicates that changes in the corona are responsible for the temporary disappearance of X-rays emitted from the center of the galaxy 1ES 1927 + 654.
If a magnetic field reversal occurs, causing the North Pole to become the South Pole and vice versa, visible light and ultraviolet emissions may increase toward the center of the galaxy due to heating, as the corona begins to shrink and the accretion disk becomes smaller at the center.
Researchers suggest that during the reversal process, this area weakens significantly enough to halt X-ray emissions.
This idea aligns with observations of the galaxy, as X-ray emissions reappeared in October 2018, about four months after they had vanished, indicating that a magnetic field reversal had indeed taken place.
