Scientists are puzzled by a black hole at the centre of a distant galaxy after it suddenly adjusted its angle to spew radiation directly toward Earth.
The galaxy has been reclassified as a blazar, meaning it has a black hole at its centre which releases a jet of energy at almost the speed of light.
Crucially, the jet has to be spewing toward an observer, which in this case is Earth.
READ MORE: Army of ticks 'torture' Sydney grandfather
"Blazars are very high energy objects and are considered to be one of the most powerful phenomena in the universe," the Royal Astronomical Society said in a statement.
"The research has revealed that in (the galaxy), the jet changed its direction drastically by an angle of up to 90 degrees, going from being in the plane of the sky, perpendicular to our line of sight, to pointing directly towards us."
The researchers still aren't sure what caused the change, but have suggested it could have merged with another galaxy.
The galaxy, named PBC J2333.9-2343, is over 656 million light years from Earth.
READ MORE: Circulation of deep ocean water in Southern Ocean is slowing, which spells bad news for the climate
Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.
