Rogue Black Hole Shocks Astronomers with Record Radio Blast

Black holes unleash delayed radio 'burps' years after tearing apart stars

Rogue black hole shocks astronomers with record radio blast

For the first time, scientists observed a black hole tearing apart a star far from its galaxy’s center, producing the fastest-changing radio signals ever recorded. The event, AT 2024tvd, revealed delayed bursts of energy months after the initial destruction, hinting at mysterious, episodic black hole activity. This rare find reshapes understanding of where supermassive black holes reside and how they evolve.

Astronomers Catch Black Holes “Burping” in Radio with the NSF VLA

Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) have found that when a supermassive black hole tears apart an unlucky star, the fireworks are not over when the first flash fades. Years after the initial outburst, many of these black holes “burp” out streams of material that slam into surrounding gas and glow in radio waves, giving the NSF VLA a front‑row seat to how black holes grow and blast energy back into their galaxies.