Uncovering the Mysteries of the Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole Flare.
NASA's IXPE spacecraft detected an eerie sound coming from the supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, at the center of the Milky Way. Scientists believe the sound is an echo of a violent outburst that occurred over 200 years ago when a mass of gas and dust got too close to the black hole, causing it to wake up from a state of dormancy and devour the materials. The X-ray light emitted during the outburst bounced and echoed, which was turned into sound waves. The discovery was made by astronomers at France's Astronomical Strasbourg Observatory.