Something is Escaping Out of a Black Hole

Black holes are one of the biggest mysteries of the universe. A massive gravity sinkhole in space and time, dragging everything into a singularity without leaving a stone unturned. Nothing escapes, nothing leaves, or so we thought…

Astronomers have discovered a massive jet of radiation, streaking out of a black hole heading straight towards Earth. This massive burst of energy is thought to be the outcome of a black hole suddenly devouring a nearby star, releasing a missive burst of energy, heading straight towards Earth. This rare event is known as a Tidal Disruption Event and was discovered by an international collaboration of scientists at the University of Southampton and MIT.

Tidal Disruption Events are rare events that occur roughly once every hundred years in a galaxy.

The team says that the jet from the black hole may be pointing directly towards Earth. This jet of particles is travelling at 99.99% of the speed of light. Such an intense beam of particles is due to the black hole undergoing an extremely active phase, swallowing the equivalent of half a sun every year. (Source – https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2022/11/black-hole-jet-discovery.page)

There is one big question that remains, this is the question we will delve into this week, how is the massive jet of particles escaping the grasp of a black hole?

Quantum Theory

Back here on Earth, even beginner-level scientists, such as yourself, will learn that no barrier is insurmountable in the subatomic world. Occasionally particles will go right through barriers that keep them in line with the laws of physics. This phenomenon is known as ‘quantum tunnelling' and even black holes are susceptible to it. This is a theory that was developed by the late Steven Hawking, it is believed that a black hole releases a faint dimmer of radiation known as, unsurprisingly, ‘Hawking Radiation’.

Classically, there is no way that any radiation can escape a black hole. Inside the black hole, space is falling faster than light so nothing can emerge from it without travelling faster than light in the opposite direction. However, due to quantum tunnelling, particles can theoretically tunnel out of the black hole.

For this phenomena to occur quantum fluctuation has to occur at the same time. Quantum fluctuation allows particles to randomly come into existence, but are usually annihilated by their partner particle almost instantly. This strange event appears to occur all the time.

In this scenario, impossibly, a particle manages to break free from the gravitational grasp of a black hole. This elusive escape involves a lone particle successfully tunnelling out just as its partner comes into existence through a quantum fluctuation, evading its imminent annihilation. Meanwhile, its companion is subjected to its dire fate, appropriately referred to as "spaghettification." As it hurtles towards the black hole's core, the doomed particle undergoes a dramatic elongation, resembling strands of spaghetti being pulled apart.

Beating the Event Horizon

Another theory for this remarkable event infers that the beam of particles escaped the pull of the black hole just before the event horizon. The event horizon is the point of no return, nothing can escape (in the classical way).  As the star is ripped apart a massive jet of enormous energy and power is shot out through the universe just before crossing the event horizon, travelling at such a high speed that it escaped the gravitation pull of the black hole.

This is an exciting discovery in the world of science and definitely, one to keep an eye on.