These two celestial bodies share a heartbeat, puzzling scientists
The microquasar SS 433 (background) sways with a period of 162 days. The inconspicuous gas cloud Fermi J1913+0515 (foreground), about 100 light years away, pulsates with the same rhythm in gamma rays, suggesting a direct connection. But how exactly the microquasar drives this 'heartbeat' of the gas cloud is still puzzling. (DESY, Science Communication Lab/)About 15,000 light-years away from Earth, a cloudy patch of space within our galaxy produces ultra-bright flashes of gamma radiation like clockwork. That’s not all—researchers found the unusual “heartbeat” coming from this cosmic gas cloud is beating along in time with the pulses of a black hole, located a whopping 100 light-years away from it. Researchers remain puzzled as to what the unusual long-distance relationship is between the two.Using data from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, an international team of researchers found the "heartbeat" in a system known as...