Researchers have observed the strongest candidate yet for a “microblazar,” a dazzling object whose existence was long predicted but never detected. Observations of microblazars would give astronomers closer views of black holes emitting powerful jets of energy and help them understand how these extreme objects behave. Blazars are some of the most energetic objects in the universe. They are a type of quasar: a bright object powered by a supermassive black hole that draws material from its host galaxy and then ejects some of it in powerful, opposing jets of particles and radiation. To be considered a blazar, one of those near-lightspeed jets must be pointed directly at Earth. Astronomers had already discovered smaller versions of quasars, called microquasars, and have long theorized that there must also be smaller versions of blazars. Latest videos from Live Science Now, an international team led by astronomers from Spain, the Netherlands and Argentina has described a microblazar in a study accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. “It is the first time that we have a serious candidate,” Josep Martí, astronomer at the University of Jaén. in Spain and first author of the study, told LiveScience. You may like The object, called IRAS 18293-0941, is located in our galaxy, about 12,000 light years from Earth, and is hidden behind a veil of dust. It is a binary system that includes a black hole that orbits a giant, hot star every 11 days. Matter from the star falls into the black hole and some of this material is thrown into the surrounding environment in two opposing jets. One of those planes flashes toward Earth. Comparison between astronomical images from IRAS 18293-0941 (left) and the artist’s impression (right). (Image credit: B. Marcote (JIVE/ASTRON).) These objects, as well as microquasars in general, are difficult to observe, Martí said. “Due to stellar evolution, it is necessary to capture the system at the right time,” he added. “The microquasar evolution phase is very short, so it is difficult to find one in that phase.” Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. Theorists predicted that microblazars would have special characteristics that should help define them. These features include powerful emissions across the electromagnetic spectrum, rapid changes in brightness (variability), and a hot spot behind them where their opposing jet heats the interstellar medium in the opposite direction from Earth. To observe IRAS 18293-0941, the study authors used a variety of instruments, including the Calar Alto Astronomical Observatory in Spain, a network of radio astronomy telescopes called the European VLBI Network and the MeerKAT radio telescope array in South Africa, as well as archival data from the Very Large Array in New Mexico. They found that IRAS 18293-0941 has all the expected characteristics of microblazar, except one: variability. Microblazars have rapid variability, meaning their brightness changes a lot in a short period, because one of the jets is facing Earth and small changes in brightness are amplified by an effect called Doppler gain. What to read next Martí said IRAS 18293-0941’s lack of rapid variability could be explained by the dense gas cloud surrounding it, which could smooth out rapid fluctuations in brightness. Researchers are currently investigating whether the area observed behind the microblazar is in fact a hot spot, study co-author Pedro Luque-Escamilla, an astronomer at the University of Jaén, told Live Science. Even without one of the expected features, this object is a promising candidate for the first known microblazar. “The claims and results in the paper are sound and there are no questionable hidden assumptions,” Kinwah Wu, a theoretical astrophysicist at University College London who was not involved in the research, told LiveScience in an email. “The source in this paper had shown signatures of interactions between the jets and ambient material, which naturally leads to [particle] interaction.” Svetlana Jorstad, a senior research scientist at Boston University’s Astrophysical Research Institute who was not involved in the research, told LiveScience in an email that the new study was “very interesting, important and comprehensive.” Itumeleng Monageng, an astronomer at the University of Cape Town who was also not involved in the research, added that the team’s observations “present a previously overlooked mechanism for generating some of the highest energy emissions observed.” Microblazars “can fuel some of the most energetic processes in the universe,” Monageng told LiveScience in an email. D., & Van Den Eijnden, J. (2026). A galactic microblazar as a potential ultra-high-energy particle accelerator. Astronomy and Astrophysics https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202661105 See how much you know about black holes with our black hole quiz!
