Latest news with #blackHoles
BBC News
17 hours ago
- Science
- BBC News
Scientists see amazing star explosion like never before
Astronomers have discovered some of the largest explosions ever recorded in the in the journal Science Advances, experts say the blasts give out ten times as much energy in one year that our Sun will put out during its entire very advanced telescopes, scientists were able to see this new rare cosmic explosions which they have called 'extreme nuclear transients'. (ENTs).The explosions happen due to massive stars getting ripped apart by black holes. How do these huge explosions happen and how big are they? Extreme nuclear transients (ENTs) explosions occur when a supermassive black hole eats a huge star. The massive star is torn to pieces as it goes too close to the black hole. When this happens a huge amount of energy is released. One of these ENTs, which astronomers have named Gaia18cdj, released over 25 times more energy than the most powerful supernova ever discovered. The amount of energy it released is the same as 100 suns release in their entire lifetime! The project to discover what these explosion actually are has been years in the making. ENTs are rare and hard to find, but it is hoped that new upcoming equipment will help more of them be findings not only set a new record for cosmic explosions, but also open up exciting possibilities for future discoveries in the vast universe.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Scientists find the most intense explosion ever seen in the universe
Scientists have discovered the most powerful blasts of energy in the known universe. Dubbed extreme nuclear transients, or ENTs, the cosmic explosions are unprecedented in their intensity. They happen when massive stars – much bigger than our Sun – go too close to a supermassive black hole and are torn to pieces. The resulting collision throws out vast amounts of energy that travel right across the cosmos. "We've observed stars getting ripped apart as tidal disruption events for over a decade, but these ENTs are different beasts, reaching brightnesses nearly ten times more than what we typically see," said Jason Hinkle, who led the study. 'Not only are ENTs far brighter than normal tidal disruption events, but they remain luminous for years, far surpassing the energy output of even the brightest known supernova explosions.' The most energetic ENT, for instance, throws out 25 times more energy than the most powerful known supernova. A supernova can emit as much energy a year as the Sun does over its 10-billion-year lifetime, but ENTs can emit 100 times that over a single year. The discovery came from work looking for flares that were being emitted from the centre of galaxies. In data from the European Space Agency 's Gaia telescope, Jason Hinkle spotted two strange flares that appeared to last longer than normal transients, and had other unexpected characteristics. "Gaia doesn't tell you what a transient is, just that something changed in brightness," said Hinkle. "But when I saw these smooth, long-lived flares from the centers of distant galaxies, I knew we were looking at something unusual." That began a years-long project to find out what the flares were coming from. Eventually, a third was found and further research showed that the ENTs were a new kind of unseen astrophysical event. The ENTs are notable not only for their intensity and unprecedented nature. Researchers also hope they can be used to better understand black holes – and the universe that holds them. "ENTs provide a valuable new tool for studying massive black holes in distant galaxies. Because they're so bright, we can see them across vast cosmic distances – and in astronomy, looking far away means looking back in time,' said Benjamin Shappee, a co-author on the study. 'By observing these prolonged flares, we gain insights into black hole growth when the universe was half its current age when galaxies were happening places—forming stars and feeding their supermassive black holes 10 times more vigorously than they do today." But such ENTs are hard to find, happening at least 10 million times left often than supernovae. Researchers hope that upcoming new equipment such as the Vera C Rubin Observatory and Nasa's Roman Space Telescope will allow for more of them to be discovered.
