2023-05-12 15:51:49
A black hole devours a large molecular cloud. Eight billion years later, telescopes on Earth register a superlative burst of radiation.
The European Southern Observatory’s New Technology Telescope helped elucidate the nature of the explosion.
(dpa) · About eight billion years ago, a large cloud of hydrogen plummeted into a supermassive black hole – triggering the most energetic explosion ever observed by astronomers. The burst of radiation was ten times brighter than any known supernova and lasted more than three years, write the scientists led by Philip Wiseman from the British University of Southampton in den «Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society». A gamma-ray burst seen last year was even brighter, but didn’t last as long and therefore released less energy overall.
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