Supermassive Black Hole in NGC 3783 Launches Ultra‑Fast Winds After X‑ray Flare

A never-before-seen eruption from the supermassive black hole at the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 3783 was recorded by two advanced X‑ray observatories. Located about 130 million light‑years from Earth, the black hole produced ultra‑fast winds that hurled material outward at roughly 37,300 miles per second — about one‑fifth the speed of light.

A bright X‑ray flare was detected first; as the flare rapidly faded, a powerful wind appeared almost immediately. According to the research team, the outflow formed within a single day after the flare, giving astronomers an unprecedented real‑time view of how extreme winds can be launched from an active galactic nucleus (AGN).

How the Observation Was Made

Lead researcher Liyi Gu and collaborators observed NGC 3783 simultaneously with ESA’s XMM‑Newton and the X‑Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), led by JAXA with ESA and NASA participation. XMM‑Newton followed the flare’s evolution using its Optical Monitor and measured the wind’s extent with the European Photon Imaging Camera (EPIC). XRISM’s Resolve instrument characterized the wind’s speed, internal structure, and launch properties.

“We’ve not watched a black hole create winds this speedily before,” said Liyi Gu of 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.”

Physical Interpretation

The black hole in NGC 3783 has a mass of roughly 30 million solar masses and powers a luminous AGN that emits across the electromagnetic spectrum and drives jets and winds into its host galaxy. The team proposes that the wind was launched when the AGN’s twisted magnetic field suddenly untwisted, a process analogous to magnetic reconnection events that produce solar flares and coronal mass ejections on the Sun, but on a vastly larger scale.

This comparison to solar activity helps convey the physical mechanism: like a coronal mass ejection, a rapid reconfiguration of magnetic fields can fling hot, ionized material outward at high speed. For context, a notable solar coronal mass ejection after a strong flare produced outflows near 950 miles per second — tiny compared with the AGN winds observed here.

Why This Matters

Ultra‑fast AGN winds can carry significant energy and momentum into the host galaxy, influencing how gas cools and how stars form. Understanding how such winds are launched — and how quickly they can appear after an X‑ray burst — is important for models of galaxy evolution and black hole feedback.

The discovery, detailed in a paper published in Astronomy and Astrophysics, showcases the scientific power of coordinated observations and next‑generation X‑ray spectroscopy.

“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,” said Erik Kuulkers, ESA XMM‑Newton Project Scientist. “This suggests that solar and high‑energy physics may operate in surprisingly similar ways across vastly different scales.”