Powerful blasts of X-rays could reveal a black hole waking from sleep

Strange X-ray pulses blasted out from a recently awakened monster black hole are the most powerful astronomers have seen, and may help explain how these cosmic behemoths emerge from their slumber.

A few years ago, astronomers spotted mysterious rhythmic signals coming from a black hole. The exact cause was unclear, but because the signals appeared to have repeating elements, they were dubbed quasi periodic eruptions (QPEs). Since then, astronomers have discovered a handful of QPEs coming…