Scientists recorded the strongest flare caused by a black hole at a distance of 10 billion light years from Earth
Scientists recorded an extraordinarily bright flare in deep space. It turned out to be the most powerful of all ever observed near a black hole, which is 500 million times heavier than the Sun. This occurred at the center of the galaxy J2245+3743, which is located about 10 billion light years from Earth.
What is known
The flare was discovered in 2018 using the Zwicky Transient Facility telescope. In a few months, its brightness increased 40 times and peaked when its luminosity exceeded any similar phenomenon by 30 times.
The cause of this phenomenon was not the usual absorption of gas and dust. A star, which had a mass 30 times that of the Sun, came too close to the black hole and was destroyed by its gravitational field. This rare phenomenon is known as a tidal disruption event (TDE).
"This is unlike any active nuclear object we have ever seen," said the lead researcher Matthew Graham from the California Institute of Technology.
According to astrophysicist K. E. Saavik Ford, if the entire Sun were converted into energy using Einstein's formula E=mc², it would only equal the amount of energy released by the flare since its discovery.
Scientists believe the flare is still ongoing, and the black hole continues to "absorb" the star's remnants.
Source: Nature Astronomy
