Astronomers Detect X-rays from White Dwarf Orbiting Supermassive Black Hole in 1ES 1927+654

Jan 14, 2025, 02:29 PM

Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery by observing a white dwarf star in close proximity to a supermassive black hole in the galaxy 1ES 1927+654, located approximately 270 million light-years from Earth. The white dwarf, with a mass about 10% that of the Sun, is orbiting the black hole, which has a mass about 1.4 million times that of the Sun. Observations using the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton telescope have detected increasing flashes of X-rays emanating from the white dwarf as it approaches the black hole's event horizon. The white dwarf's orbit appears to have stabilized, possibly due to its outer layers being drawn into the black hole, preventing it from crossing the event horizon. This phenomenon marks the closest object ever observed orbiting a supermassive black hole, offering new insights into the interactions between stellar remnants and black holes.