Level 5 storms blow from small black holes

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has detected a black hole that is sending out strong winds of up to 20 million miles per hour.

Picture 1 of Level 5 storms blow from small black holes
IGR J17091 has unusual activity compared to the same black holes

For ease of comparison, the speed could be listed as a Category 5 (maximum) hurricane scale in the universe, according to University of Michigan expert Ashley King. This is something astronomers have never thought about.

IGR J17091 is a double system in which a star revolves around a black hole. It is also in the Milky Way, and is 28,000 light-years from Earth, according to TD Daily.

The winds emanating from the black hole IGR J17091 move almost 10 times faster than similar phenomena that have been observed by earth experts. This wind speed is usually found only in supermassive black holes, which are a billion times larger than the IGR J17091.

'It is too surprising to see such a small black hole that can produce strong winds like in the case of supermassive black holes,' said Jon M Miller, also at the University of Michigan.

Consequently, contrary to the common notion that black holes attract all material near it, it is estimated that up to 95% of the material around IGR J17091 is blown away by the wind.