Astronomers witness ‘sudden awakening’ of massive black hole in far-away galaxy

Astronomers believe they may have witnessed a massive black hole wake up and become active in a far-away galaxy.

The cosmic event was first spotted in 2019 when a US telescope detected an “unusual brightness” around 300 million light-years away.

Data showed the “calm” galaxy in the constellation Virgo had mysteriously started to glow.

An international team then tracked this “unprecedented behaviour” and found the galaxy was gradually growing brighter and radiating more light – unlike any other typical event seen before.

They believe the sudden brightness is being caused by a massive black hole waking up at the heart of the galaxy and “feasting” on the surrounding gas.

If the findings are validated in further studies, it would be the first time scientists have observed a black hole becoming active in real time.