All articles tagged with #luminosity
Astronomers observed the most luminous black hole outburst ever, a superflare 10 trillion times brighter than the Sun, caused by a black hole consuming a star at least 30 times the Sun's mass, remaining bright for five years and challenging previous understanding of such events.
Scientists have detected the brightest ultraviolet/optical flare ever observed, known as GRB 220101A, using the Swift/UVOT satellite. This discovery challenges previous understandings of ultraviolet/optical bursts and suggests a unique astrophysical process. The flare's luminosity is approximately 400 quadrillion times that of the Sun, breaking a 14-year record. The findings highlight the diversity of physical origins for super-bright optical-ultraviolet bursts and pave the way for future research in this field.
The farthest star ever detected, named Earendel, has been discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope. Located in the Sunrise Arc galaxy, Earendel is more than twice as hot as the sun and about a million times more luminous. Its extreme distance from Earth, 28 billion light-years away, means that its light took 12.9 billion years to reach us, offering scientists a glimpse into the early universe. The discovery opens up new possibilities for studying stellar physics and potentially detecting the very first generation of stars.
Scientists have discovered the brightest quasar ever recorded in the past 9 billion years of cosmic history. Known as J1144, this quasar provides new insights into the inner workings of quasars and their interaction with the surrounding cosmos. Situated approximately 9.6 billion light years away, J1144 shines with a brightness 100,000 billion times greater than the Sun. The study, led by Dr. Elias Kammoun and Zsofi Igo, used data from multiple observatories to measure the temperature of the X-rays emitted by the quasar and found that the black hole at its center has a mass of around 10 billion times that of the Sun. The observations also revealed that the quasar exhibits unusual variability and powerful winds, injecting large amounts of energy into its host galaxy.
Astronomers have detected the largest cosmic explosion ever witnessed, called AT2021lwx, which is 10 times brighter than any known exploding star. The explosion has lasted for three years, while most supernovas are only bright for a few months. The event occurred nearly 8 billion light-years away from Earth when the universe was about 6 billion years old. The explosion was triggered by a supermassive black hole disrupting a vast gas or dust cloud, potentially thousands of times larger than our sun. The findings were published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.