Using ESA’s XMM-Newton and the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), a JAXA-led mission with ESA and NASA participation, astronomer have observed the launch of an ultrafast outflow from NGC 3783’s supermassive black hole at 19% the speed of light (57,000 km/s).
An artist’s impression of the flaring, windy supermassive black hole in NGC 3783. Image credit: ESA / ATG Europe.
NGC 3783 is a bright barred spiral galaxy located about 135 million light-years away in the constellation of Centaurus.
The galaxy was first discovered on April 21, 1835 by the English astronomer John Herschel.
Otherwise known as ESO 378-14, LEDA 36101 or 2XMM J113901.7-374418, it is a main member of the NGC 3783 galaxy group, a gathering of 47 galaxies.
NGC 3783 hosts a rapidly rotating supermassive black hole of 2.8 million solar masses.
“We’ve not watched a black hole create winds this speedily before,” said Dr. Liyi Gu, an astronomer at the Space Research Organisation Netherlands (SRON).
“For the first time, we’ve seen how a rapid burst of X-ray light from a black hole immediately triggers ultra-fast winds, with these winds forming in just a single day.”
During a 10-day observation, mainly with the XRISM space telescope, the astronomers witnessed the formation and acceleration of an outburst from a supermassive black hole in NGC 3783.
Scientists often find that such outbursts are powered by strong radiation, but this time the most likely cause is a sudden change in the magnetic field, similar to bursts on the Sun that cause solar flares.
While supermassive black holes are known to flicker in X-rays, this is the first time astronomers clearly see a high-speed ejection accelerated during an X-ray burst.
It was revealed in the longest continuous observation XRISM has carried out so far.
During the 10-day period, scientists saw variations in X-ray brightness, especially in the softer X-ray band.
These changes, including the outburst that lasted for three days, are not unusual for supermassive black holes.
However, what makes this outburst unique is the simultaneous ejection of gas from the accretion disk of the black hole — the swirling disk of matter orbiting the black hole.
This gas was expelled at incredibly high speeds, reaching up to 57,000 km per second, or 19% of the speed of light.
The gas appeared to come from a region at a distance of roughly 50 times the size of the black hole.
In this turbulent region, gravity and magnetic forces interact in extreme ways.
The researchers believe the ejection was caused by a process called magnetic reconnection: a sudden reconfiguration of magnetic fields that releases huge amounts of energy.
“This is a unique opportunity to study the launch mechanism of ultrafast outflows,” Dr. Gu said.
“The data suggest that the acceleration of the outflow is driven by magnetic forces, similar to coronal mass ejections from the Sun.”
“A coronal mass ejection happens when large blobs of hot solar plasma are hurled into space.”
“A supermassive black hole can do the same, only these eruptions are ten billion times more powerful, dwarfing anything we have ever seen on our Sun.”
The scientists propose that the observed black hole event, just like its solar counterpart, is fueled by sudden bursts of magnetic energy.
This contrasts with the common theories suggesting that black holes expel matter through intense radiation or extreme heat.
The results offer new insights into how black holes not only pull matter in, but under certain conditions, also shoot it back out into space.
This process, known as feedback, may play a key role in how galaxies grow and change over time, influencing the stars and gas around the black hole and helping shape the Universe we see today.
“The discovery stems from successful collaboration, something that’s a core part of all ESA missions,” said XMM-Newton project scientist Dr. Erik Kuulkers, an astronomer at ESA.
“By zeroing in on an active supermassive black hole, the two telescopes have found something we’ve not seen before: rapid, ultra-fast, flare-triggered winds reminiscent of those that form at the Sun.”
“Excitingly, this suggests that solar and high-energy physics may work in surprisingly familiar ways throughout the Universe.”
The team’s paper was published in the December 9, 2025 issue of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
_____
Liyi Gu et al. 2025. Delving into the depths of NGC 3783 with XRISM. III. Birth of an ultrafast outflow during a soft flare. A&A 704, A146; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202557189