![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_316344514-37f0.jpg\")
\n\t\tCould we get slimed? (Picture: Getty\/Metro)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tCould we get slimed? (Picture: Getty\/Metro)<\/p>\n
Scientists think they have discovered an entirely new type of object in space <\/a>\u2013 and it\u2019s spat something radioactive right at us.<\/p>\n But if you ask Josep Mart\u00ed<\/a>, an astronomer at the University of Ja\u00e9n in Spain<\/a>, this is very much a good thing.<\/p>\n The goo, made of plasma \u2013 the fourth state of matter \u2013 could be the proof Mart\u00ed has been looking for of a long-theorised \u2018microblazar\u2019.<\/p>\n Regular blazars are a type of quasar:\u00a0monstrous black holes at the centre of galaxies<\/a>\u00a0that squeeze matter out like toothpaste into a fiery jet.<\/p>\n A microblazar is the same thing, but on a much smaller scale, Mart\u00ed writes in a study accepted for publication in the journal\u00a0Astronomy and Astrophysics<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018I have always been impressed by how Mother Nature mimics itself at very different scales,\u2019 he tells Metro. <\/p>\n \t\t \u2018Somehow, it reminds me of the analogy between the solar system and the electrons orbiting the nucleus of an atom.\u2019<\/p>\n Do we have anything to worry about?<\/p>\n What\u2019s holding this slime bucket is IRAS 18293\u22120941, a stellar black hole, or a cosmic hungry-hungry hippo formed <\/a>out of a collapsed star.<\/p>\n The black hole orbits a giant, hot star, which it constantly nibbles on and spits out as two violent jets of fiery energy.<\/p>\n This tracks with what scientists believe a microblazar could be.<\/p>\n \u2018Microquasars have jets, but they are powered by small black holes with a modest mass of about 10 times that of our Sun<\/a>,\u2019 Mart\u00ed says.<\/p>\n \u2018In microquasars, the black hole feeding comes from matter \t\t \u2018When, by chance, the jets are pointing close to our line of sight, One of these angry flares is aimed straight at Earth, Mart\u00ed and his team found, travelling at about 75% of the speed of light.<\/p>\n \u2018Concerning possible worries, please stay calm. None at all. These objects are very, very far away,\u2019 Mart\u00ed says.<\/p>\n He\u2019s not kidding. The microblazar is in our galaxy and about 12,000 light-years from Earth<\/a>, or about 70,500,500,400,000,000 miles.<\/p>\n However, if Earth were to be caught in the microblazar\u2019s firing line, it wouldn\u2019t be pretty.<\/p>\n \u2018We would experience a significant increase in radiation effects,\u2019 Mart\u00ed says. <\/p>\n \t\t \u2018Depending on distance and crossing time, electronic devices and living beings could suffer negative consequences. <\/p>\n \u2018However, this is not a realistic hypothesis and no risk of this kind exists. Humankind has many other problems to worry about.\u2019<\/p>\n Although IRAS 18293\u22120941 was discovered in 1983, a thick veil of dust makes it practically invisible to Earthly telescopes.<\/p>\n To observe IRAS 18293-0941, the study authors\u00a0used a Swiss Army Knife\u2019s worth of archival data and telescopes, including the Calar Alto Astronomical Observatory in Spain and the MeerKAT radio telescope array in South Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n If a binary star system, or a pair of stars that dance around one another, is just the right size, they might wind up as a microblazar.<\/p>\n They don\u2019t last very long at cosmic scales<\/a> \u2013 a mere 100,000 or so years \u2013 so Mart\u00ed says it was almost a fluke that they managed to spot one.<\/p>\n Kinwah Wu<\/a>, a theoretical astrophysicist at University College London who was not involved in the research, says finding a microblazar is a big deal.<\/p>\n \u2018We can use them to study a lot of fundamental and most extreme Professor Wu says this could include how particles move at breakneck speeds, or if they\u2019re a source of the energetic cosmic rays showering Earth.<\/p>\n \u2018They are rare, powerful sources within our own galaxy,\u2019 she adds.<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_316437129-f0e2.jpg\")
\n\t\tIRAS 18293\u22120941 could be the first microblazar ever observed (Picture: B. Marcote\/JIVE\/ASTRON<\/p>\n
captured from a single stellar companion orbiting the black hole.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_316437106-e71e-e1791895090826.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe researchers used a raft of powerful telescopes to see the hidden celestial object (Picture: B. Marcote\/Jive\/Astron)<\/p>\n
these systems are known as blazars and microblazars, respectively.\u2019<\/p>\n
\n\t\tThe astronomical image (left) and the artist\u2019s impression (Picture: B. Marcote\/Jive\/Astron)<\/p>\n
processes in astrophysics and physics,\u2019 she tells Metro.<\/p>\n
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