Researchers for 1st time observe solar-storm-like eruptions near black hole

JERUSALEM, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- An international team of researchers has discovered eruptions similar to solar storms near a giant black hole, the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) said Sunday.

Published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, the study provides the first evidence that the physical processes driving solar storms can also occur near supermassive black holes.

Solar storms occur when energy stored in magnetic fields is suddenly released, producing bursts of radiation and streams of charged particles that can disrupt satellites and communications on Earth.

The researchers analyzed X-ray emissions from the region around a black hole in the galaxy NGC 3783, using the XRISM and XMM-Newton space telescopes to track changes in radiation.

They identified a pattern known as the "Neupert effect," first discovered on the Sun in 1968 but never previously observed near a black hole.

The discovery suggests that powerful magnetic eruptions may occur across vastly different cosmic environments, from the Sun to black holes millions of times more massive, the researchers say.