A black hole has the hiccups – because another one is punching it

There’s one black hole out there getting punched (Picture: Getty)Out in the depths of space, a black hole is hiccupping. Why? Because it’s getting punched by another one.
Obviously.Until 2020, a black hole lying around 800 million light-years away had been sitting quietly at the centre of its galaxy. Then, in December 2020, it suddenly came to life, giving off plumes of gas every 8.5 days before going silent again.For years astronomers have been stumped as to why these ‘hiccups