NASA probing why a distant galaxy has been shooting out flares every 114 days

A distant galaxy, located 570 million light-years away from us, has been mysteriously shooting out flares every 114 days (Image: NASA)

A distant galaxy, located 570 million light-years away from us, has been mysteriously shooting out flares every 114 days and the US space agency NASA has launched an investigation to understand what is causing it.

Twenty such repeated outbursts, classified by NASA as ASASSN-14ko, were studied by space scientists using data from the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The telescopes and other such instruments were used to measure the varying wavelengths of the light flares.

“These are the most predictable and frequent recurring multiwavelength flares we’ve seen from a galaxy’s core, and they give us a unique opportunity to study this extragalactic Old Faithful in detail,” Anna Payne, a Nasa Graduate Fellow at the University of Hawaii, Mānoa, said in a statement.

“We think a supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s centre creates the bursts as it partially consumes an orbiting giant star,” Payne added.

If scientists are able to confirm that a supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy is causing the light fluctuations, it would greatly enhance our understanding of the Universe.

However, there are some other possible explanations for the light outbursts also. For instance, friction between two black holes that exist in the galaxy might also be resulting in the flares. However, the chances of that being the cause seems low as the two black holes do not orbit close enough to each other.

The other possibility could be that a passing star was intercepted by the black hole. However, the chances of this being the reason also do not hold much ground because the light outbursts have been consistent vis-à-vis their shape.