It is 2 trillion times brighter than the sun. The most powerful cosmic explosion ever discovered

Scientists have discovered the most powerful and brightest cosmic explosion known to date. The “fireball” resulting from the explosion is 100 times larger than our solar system. The Guardian writes that according to scientists, this explosion event is associated with the absorption of matter by a supermassive black hole 8 billion light-years away from us.

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The cosmic explosion, named AT2021lwx, lasted three years, according to astronomers, and was 10 times brighter than any known supernova explosion. These explosive events occur when old stars die, but only last for a few months.

In 2020, astronomers observing space to look for new supernovae at the Palomar Observatory in the United States discovered a seemingly insignificant flash of light. Over the course of the year, this flash got brighter, and astronomers noticed something very unusual. It turned out to be a very rare event and also the most powerful cosmic explosion in the history of all space observations.

The results of the following observations led astronomers to conclude that it could still be a very powerful supernova explosion, but calculations showed that the explosion was 10 times brighter than any known supernova, so observations continued. Just three years later, scientists finally figured out what’s really happening in outer space 8 billion light-years away from us.

The scientists concluded that the explosion was caused by the absorption of a very large gas cloud by a supermassive black hole. According to Philip Wiseman of the University of Southampton in England, a gas cloud 1,000 times the size of the Sun flew very close to the black hole and was pulled towards it to destroy it.

The authors of the study believe that this huge gas cloud may have arisen as a result of the collision of two galaxies, and that one of them may have approached the center. After that, it began to orbit the black hole, but what exactly caused the cloud to get too close to the black monster remained a mystery.

According to scientists, when the gas cloud started to be absorbed, it heated up to a very great temperature and an explosion occurred with the release of a large amount of heat and radiation. Astronomers believe that the resulting “fireball” is 100 times larger than our solar system, and the brightness of this explosion exceeds the brightness of the Sun by 2 trillion times. In the three years that the eruption continued, 100 times more energy was released than the Sun could emit in 10 billion years. It’s almost my whole life.

At the same time, astronomers point out that the AT2021lwx cosmic explosion is not the brightest known event in space. Last year, astronomers discovered a gamma-ray burst called GRB 221009A, whose source is located 2.4 billion light-years from us. This release of energy and radiation took several hours, but in terms of power it is definitely inferior to the AT2021lwx explosion, which took three years.

The study’s authors say they will continue to make more observations of this supermassive black hole to finally confirm their current findings. By the way, it is important to note that the brightness of this cosmic explosion can only be compared with the level of light emission of the brightest objects in the Universe – quasars. They are also inextricably linked with the activities of supermassive black holes.

Previously Focus He wrote that the Webb Space Telescope has discovered unknown objects around a star close to us called Fomalhaut.

Moreover Focus He wrote that astronomers discovered a unique kilonova explosion and found that it had an ideal shape. Moreover, this explosion is billions of times brighter than the Sun.