Since the beginning of December 2018, the OSIRIS-Rex space probe has been studying the asteroid Bennu, considered the space rock that will allow us to understand the origin of the Solar System and life on Earth. A group of NASA researchers and university students working on the mission made an unexpected discovery. The probe was able to detect a new black hole about 30,000 light years away in the Columba constellation.
According to NASA, the sudden discovery was made in November 2019 using the probe's Regolith X-Ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS), an instrument developed and controlled by students and researchers at MIT and Harvard University. By analyzing the radiation emitted by the asteroid, REXIS identified a small bright spot that intrigued scientists.
Our initial analyzes showed that no other space objects had been found in that location, explains Branden Allen, a Harvard University researcher and mission supervisor. Upon further investigation, the bright spot turned out to be a black hole detected a week earlier by the Japanese MAXI telescope, the MAXI J0637-430.
The discovery is the first detection of an X-ray eruption of a black hole in interplanetary space. NASA explains that the observation of this type of explosions is only possible in space, since the Earth's atmosphere prevents X-rays from entering the planet. Eruptions occur when a black hole absorbs the matter of a star that orbits around it, emitting a large amount of energy.
The OSIRIS-REx space probe will continue to help discover the mysteries of the asteroid Bennu, and beyond, until March 2021, with its return to Earth scheduled for 2023.