Astronomers tracking this bizarre celestial feeding frenzy say the outburst, nicknamed “Jetty McJetface”, is now among the most energetic known objects in the cosmos, growing brighter and more powerful years after it first switched on.
How a shredded star lit up the universe
The drama began in 2018, when telescopes picked up a strange flare from a distant galaxy. At its heart sat a supermassive black hole now catalogued as AT2018hyz. A passing star had strayed too close to the black hole’s immense gravity and was torn apart in a violent episode called a tidal disruption event.
During such events, the star is stretched into long strands of gas in a process nicknamed “spaghettification”. Part of the stellar material spirals toward the black hole, heating up and glowing; another fraction can be launched outward at astonishing speeds.
The black hole’s feeding episode did not fade away as expected. Instead, its energy output has climbed for years, defying standard models.
By 2022, researchers had realised this particular disruption was anything but ordinary. Using radio telescopes, they spotted a powerful jet of material being fired from near the black hole at close to the speed of light. The team jokingly called it “Jetty McJetface”, a nod to the public’s infamous “Boaty McBoatface” naming craze in the UK.
One of the most energetic objects ever recorded
New observations, published in the Astrophysical Journal, show that Jetty McJetface is not winding down. Its radio signal has grown roughly 50 times brighter than it was in 2019, suggesting that the jet is still being fed by the remains of the ill-fated star.
Based on the energy contained in the radio-emitting particles, the team estimates the outburst has released at least a trillion times the destructive power of the Death Star from “Star Wars”. This comparison is playful, but the underlying numbers are serious: we are seeing an engine that outperforms anything humans can even remotely build.
Among known cosmic jets, Jetty McJetface now ranks as one of the most energetic and long-lived ever associated with a single shredded star.
The current modelling suggests that the radio brightness will continue rising rapidly and could peak around 2027. If those predictions hold, the event will give astronomers an unusually long and detailed window onto the life of a black hole jet in real time.
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Why this black hole is breaking the rules
Tidal disruption events are not rare in deep surveys, but they typically flare up and decline over months or a few years. Jets produced in these episodes tend to brighten quickly and then fade as the supply of gas thins out.
Jetty McJetface is doing the opposite: the energy appears to be ramping up, not dying away. That behaviour suggests something strange is happening around the black hole’s feeding zone, where gravity, magnetic fields and spiralling gas all interact.
A one-sided cosmic blowtorch
The team’s leading idea is that the torn-apart star’s radiation and debris are being focused in a narrow direction, like the beam of a cosmic blowtorch. If that jet is pointed away from Earth, we would not see the early, brightest flashes in visible light, which could explain why the event initially looked unremarkable.
Only as the radio-emitting particles spread sideways and strengthen over time do they become obvious to our telescopes. More data, including from next-generation observatories, will be needed to check whether the jet’s orientation truly accounts for the long-lived brightening.
- The black hole: AT2018hyz, a supermassive black hole in a distant galaxy
- The victim: a star pulled apart by tidal forces in 2018
- The nickname: “Jetty McJetface”, referencing Boaty McBoatface
- The energy: at least a trillion times the fictional Death Star’s output
- The timeline: first flare in 2018, strongest radio emission expected around 2027
What this reveals about black holes and particle jets
Black hole jets are among the universe’s most effective particle accelerators. They fling charged particles to energies that our most powerful machines, such as the Large Hadron Collider, cannot reach. Studying a jet that is still evolving allows scientists to watch that acceleration process as it unfolds.
By measuring how the radio emission changes with time and frequency, astronomers can infer the strength of magnetic fields around the jet and how fast particles are being boosted. That, in turn, feeds into theories about cosmic rays – high-energy particles that rain on Earth from space – and about exotic particles that might contribute to dark matter.
Events like Jetty McJetface act as natural laboratories, letting physicists test ideas about extreme gravity and high-energy particles without leaving home.
The black hole also offers clues about how galaxies grow. Jets can push gas out of the regions around black holes, regulating star formation and reshaping their host galaxies over millions of years. Jetty McJetface is a short, intense burst on that timescale, but it still delivers a prodigious amount of energy to its surroundings.
Key concepts behind the spectacle
What is spaghettification?
Spaghettification occurs when an object feels a stronger pull of gravity on one side than the other. Near a black hole, this difference becomes extreme. A star passing too close is stretched along its length and squeezed across its width, much like pulling dough into long strands of pasta.
Part of that stretched material can settle into a swirling disk around the black hole, glowing in X-rays and ultraviolet light. In some cases, magnetic fields near the disk funnel a fraction of the gas into narrow jets launched from the poles of the spinning black hole.
Why the name Jetty McJetface matters
On the surface, the nickname is just a bit of fun among astronomers. Yet those playful labels can make dense astrophysics more approachable. A name that sounds like an internet meme stands out in a field full of catalogue numbers such as AT2018hyz.
That matters for public engagement. A memorable nickname makes it easier for people to follow updates, ask their own questions and pay attention as the story of this black hole unfolds over the next several years.
What scientists will watch for next
Over the coming decade, a range of observatories will continue pointing at Jetty McJetface, from radio arrays that can track faint, long-wavelength emissions to optical and X-ray telescopes that might catch any late-time flares.
| Type of telescope | What it can reveal |
|---|---|
| Radio arrays | Growth and structure of the jet, particle acceleration, magnetic fields |
| Optical/infrared | Any lingering glow from debris near the black hole |
| X-ray observatories | Heating near the black hole’s accretion region and signs of fresh infall |
If the radio emission peaks around 2027, that timing will help pin down how fast the shredded star’s material is moving and how efficiently the black hole converts infalling matter into a jet. Any deviations from the forecast could hint at sudden changes in the feeding rate or shifts in the jet’s direction.
For non-specialists trying to make sense of the headlines, one useful mental picture is to think of Jetty McJetface as a delayed cosmic burp. The black hole swallowed a star years ago, but the full energetic aftermath is only now reaching us. Each new observation adds a frame to a slow-motion film of one of nature’s most extreme engines switching on and running close to its limits.
Originally posted 2026-03-03 15:24:55.