Astronomers detect largest cosmic explosion ever seen
The Hindu
Astronomers say they have uncovered the largest cosmic explosion ever witnessed, which has currently lasted over three years.
Astronomers say they have uncovered the largest cosmic explosion ever witnessed, which has currently lasted over three years.
The explosion, known as AT2021lwx, took place nearly eight billion light years away, when the universe was around six billion years old, and is still being detected by a network of telescopes, the researchers said.
The explosion is more than ten times brighter than any known supernova or exploding star and three times brighter than the brightest tidal disruption event, where a star falls into a supermassive black hole, they said.
The event has currently lasted over three years, compared to most supernovae, which are only visibly bright for a few months, according to the resaerchers.
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"We came upon this by chance, as it was flagged by our search algorithm when we were searching for a type of supernova," said Philip Wiseman, Research Fellow at the University of Southampton, who led the research published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
"Most supernovae and tidal disruption events only last for a couple of months before fading away. For something to be bright for two plus years was immediately very unusual," Wiseman said in a statement.