Astronomers detect solar-like magnetic storms near supermassive black hole

Researchers have identified evidence of magnetic reconnection events near the supermassive black hole in the galaxy NGC 3783. Using data from the XRISM and XMM-Newton space telescopes, the team observed an X-ray pattern consistent with the Neupert effect, a phenomenon first recognized in solar observations that links the buildup and release of energy during magnetic flares.

The black hole, which weighs approximately 28 million times the mass of the Sun, exhibited high-energy X-ray fluctuations that suggest magnetic fields are powering both flares and bursts of escaping material. This finding provides a bridge between solar physics and black hole astronomy, demonstrating that the underlying rules of magnetized plasma can apply across vastly different scales, from our Sun to the extreme environments of active galactic nuclei.

The study, led by scientists at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, marks the first detection of the Neupert effect in an active galactic nucleus.