Astronomers Discover Most Distant and Powerful Black Hole Flare from Star Destruction
By
gmays
Baker's choice. Dense with flavour, light on filler.
Summary
Astronomers have discovered the most powerful and distant flare of energy ever recorded from a supermassive black hole, likely caused by a massive star being torn apart and consumed by the black hole. The event, first observed in 2018 and co-discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility, represents a rare cosmic phenomenon where a star that would have normally exploded as a supernova instead wandered too close to a black hole and was shredded to pieces.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledThe most massive stars in the universe are destined to explode as brilliant supernova before collapsing into black holes.
Yet one huge star appears to have never fulfilled its destiny; in a twist of irony, the star wandered too close to a gargantuan black hole, which gobbled it up, shredding the star to bits and pieces.
That is the most likely explanation to come from authors of a new Nature Astronomy report describing the most powerful and most distant flare of energy ever recorded from a supermassive black hole.
The flare, co-discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility, may be the result of a mega black-hole meal.
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