Astronomers observe black hole flare brighter than 10 trillion suns
Researchers believe the flare was caused when the black hole tore apart a massive star
Astronomers have detected the most powerful and distant flare ever observed from a supermassive black hole — a cosmic explosion so intense it briefly outshone 10 trillion suns.
The flare, dubbed 'Superman', erupted from an active galactic nucleus (AGN) located about 10 billion light-years from Earth, marking a new milestone in the study of extreme astrophysical events, reports CNN.
The phenomenon originated in the heart of a galaxy powered by a supermassive black hole actively devouring nearby matter. As gas and dust spiralled toward the black hole, they heated up to extreme temperatures, releasing an extraordinary burst of energy visible across vast cosmic distances.
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Researchers believe the flare was caused when the black hole tore apart a massive star — a rare occurrence known as a tidal disruption event.
According to Matthew Graham, research professor of astronomy at the California Institute of Technology and lead author of the study published in Nature Astronomy, the event was so rare it could be a "one-in-a-million" occurrence among active galaxies.
At its peak, 'Superman' was 30 times more luminous than any previously recorded black hole flare. The black hole involved is estimated to be 500 million times more massive than the Sun, while the consumed star was at least 30 times the Sun's mass — the largest ever observed to be shredded by a black hole.
The flare was first detected in November 2018 by the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey and the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) at California's Palomar Observatory. Initially, the event was mistaken for a blazar — a black hole launching high-energy jets of matter — but later analysis revealed its extraordinary nature. Follow-up observations from telescopes, including the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii, confirmed that the source was far brighter and more energetic than first believed.
KE Saavik Ford, co-author of the study, said the finding provides crucial clues about how such stars form and survive in the violent environments at galactic centres.
"This is probably the most massive star ever seen shredded by a black hole," Ford said. "It tells us that massive stars live in and around gas disks near these cosmic giants."
