Scientists have detected a white dwarf object nearing the point of no return around a massive black hole. The observations were made using the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton orbiting X-ray telescope and show the white dwarf stabilizing its orbit at an extremely close distance to the event horizon.
Located about 270 million light-years from Earth, this galaxy is home to one of the most massive supermassive black holes, with a mass about a million times greater than our sun. The white dwarf object has a mass of around 10% that of the sun and is traveling at nearly half the speed of light.
The close encounter has caused the X-ray flashes from the white dwarf to increase in frequency, initially declining from every 18 minutes down to seven minutes over two years as it drew closer to the black hole. However, its orbit has stabilized, preventing it from crossing the event horizon and facing destruction.
Researchers believe this may be due to the outer layers of the white dwarf being sucked into the black hole, providing a stabilizing kick-back action. The white dwarf may actually survive this close encounter.
Future observations using next-generation observatories like NASA’s Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) may confirm that this is indeed a white dwarf, allowing for potential detections in both X-ray light and gravitational wave emission.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/science/intrepid-white-dwarf-has-close-encounter-with-massive-black-hole-2025-01-14