Discoveries

May 22, 2023

Bang, Bang

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Scientists recently discovered the biggest explosion ever seen in the known universe after witnessing an enormous black hole – a billion times bigger than our Sun – swallowing up a huge cloud of gas, the New York Times reported.

And this chaotic event, occurring eight billion light-years away from Earth, has been going on for about three years, researchers wrote in their study.

Astronomers were searching for exploding stars when they first noticed a very bright flash coming from the Vulpecula constellation. They initially presumed the phenomenon – named AT2021lwx – was another supernova or a tidal disruption event (TDE), a process when black holes eat up stars.

But this cataclysmic event remained bright for years, whereas supernovas and TDEs only last for a few months, according to lead author Philip Wiseman.

“For something to be bright for two-plus years was immediately very unusual,” he explained.

Wiseman and his team also proposed that the AT2021lwx was an outburst of a quasar – a release of energy originating from the periphery of a supermassive black hole situated at the center of a galaxy.

But that region of space was not known for any quasar activity.

Wiseman said the event is “one of the most luminous transients ever discovered,” with a total radiated energy amounting to 100 supernovas.

This story originally appeared in the May 22, 2023 newsletter, Comforting the Afflicters.