Scientists have not been able to find out why the mysterious black hole is located in the GRS 1915 + 105 binary star system, 36,000 light years from Earth since 2018.
This black hole has long been known as the second heaviest black hole in the Milky Way. Its mass is 10 to 18 times that of the Sun.
When GRS 1915 + 105 absorbs matter from nearby companion stars, the area around this black hole emits x-rays and other high-energy radiation.
The more food the GRS 1915 + 105 eats, the brighter the accretion plate (the collection of matter sucked into the black hole).
But since July 2018, the light of the star system GRS 1915 + 105 begins to decrease. In 2019, this light is getting weaker and weaker. Scientists say they have never seen anything like it before.
“We believe this state should be defined as an ‘obscured state,’ the researchers wrote in the article published on the arXiv database. Something may have happened between the light source and the Swift X-ray telescope, which tracked the GRS 1915 + 105, obscured the telescope’s view.
Black holes with massive companion stars sometimes darken because the wind from those stars can push gas clouds forward, blocking their light. However, in the case of the GRS 1915 + 105, its companion has a low mass so that the generated wind is not enough to obscure the view of the telescope.
From there, the researchers speculated that it is possible that the slight obstructions were coming from the black hole’s accretion disk itself. Even so, the nature of this structure remains a mystery.
Scientists believe that understanding what is going on with GRS 1915 + 105 can help shed light on what is going on inside the heaviest objects in the universe.
