To rudely go … black hole is captured letting out a ‘double burp’

♦ It may sound more like a vulgar party trick than a significant scientific advance, nevertheless researchers have triumphantly announced the discovery of the first observed astronomical “double burp”.

Space telescopes have captured groundbreaking images showing a black hole “exhaling” jets of bright light twice after “bingeing” on hot gas.

While images already exist of black holes – a region of space-time with such strong gravity it sucks in even light – releasing one burst of gas, the evidence of a double exhalation is unprecedented.

The researchers’ observation confirms for the first time the theory that black holes go though cycles of sucking in gas before “napping” and starting again.

The cycle takes place over roughly 100,000 years, which in cosmological terms is akin to “flicking on and off ”, according to the research team at the University of Colorado.

The researchers think the black hole erupted twice because it consumed two separate meals.

The reason for this might lie with the fact that the galaxy it is in had collided with another galaxy nearby. This would provide plenty of cosmic gas on which a black hole could feast.

The “burp” itself comprises a stream of high-energy particles that are thrown out of the black hole.