‘Very messy eaters’: scientists solve the mystery of when black holes ‘burp’
An illustration of a tidal disruption event, when a supermassive black hole tears apart a nearby star with its gravitational pull. Illustration: Science Communication LabView image in fullscreenAn illustration of a tidal disruption event, when a supermassive black hole tears apart a nearby star with its gravitational pull. “You can think of it as a black hole burp.”But the timing of these burps had previously been mysterious to astrophysicists.
- ▪An illustration of a tidal disruption event, when a supermassive black hole tears apart a nearby star with its gravitational pull.
- ▪Illustration: Science Communication LabView image in fullscreenAn illustration of a tidal disruption event, when a supermassive black hole tears apart a nearby star with its gravitational pull.
- ▪“You can think of it as a black hole burp.”But the timing of these burps had previously been mysterious to astrophysicists.
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| Original publisher | The Guardian — Science |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/sep/17/black-hole-burps-scientists-solve-mystery-astronomy |
| Publication time | Thu, 17 Sep 2026 09:00:44 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-17T09:23:43.144Z |
| Last seen | 2026-09-17T09:23:43.144Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
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| Cluster | VuQYJhH4oWq1 · 1 stories |
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| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
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An illustration of a tidal disruption event, when a supermassive black hole tears apart a nearby star with its gravitational pull. Illustration: Science Communication LabView image in fullscreenAn illustration of a tidal disruption event, when a supermassive black hole tears apart a nearby star with its gravitational pull. Illustration: Science Communication LabSpace‘Very messy eaters’: scientists solve the mystery of when black holes ‘burp’The astronomical bodies fire off powerful jets in two distinct phases in their feeding cycle, researchers discoverDonna Lu Thu 17 Sep 2026 05.00 EDTLast modified on Thu 17 Sep 2026 05.02 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleScientists have solved the mystery of when black holes “burp” – when the astronomical bodies launch jets after feeding on stars,…
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