In an unintended discovery, scientists monitor the largest ever cosmic explosion that ignited three years ago
Astronomers said Friday that they have discovered the "largest" cosmic explosion ever recorded. The explosion is a ball of energy 100 times the size of our solar system, and it suddenly ignited three years ago. Direct observation of the phenomenon changed the situation, while an analysis of the light proved that it took eight billion years to reach the telescope.
In an "accidental discovery", astronomers detected the "largest" cosmic explosion ever recorded, which suddenly ignited three years ago.
Although scientists have a new explanation to explain the cause of this phenomenon, they stress the need for further research to find clearer details.
And this phenomenon, which was called "AT 2021 LWX" ( AT2021lwx ), is not the brightest of all. It dates back to a gamma-ray burst (a massive explosion of energy during a star fall) "GRB 221009A " ( GRB221009A ), which was discovered in October 2022 and was believed to be "the brightest ever."
However, this cosmic explosion, which was mentioned in the monthly magazine "Monthly Notice" of the British Royal Astronomical Society, can be described as "the largest", because within three years it released an unlimited amount of energy that exceeds what results from a gamma-ray burst, according to the study's lead author, Philip Wiseman. He is an astrophysicist at the University of Southampton, UK.
Speaking to Agence France-Presse, Wiseman said that the AT 2021 LWX is the result of an "accidental discovery".
The cosmic explosion was monitored in the year 2020 through the American Observatory "Zwicky Transient Facility" in California. However, the observation of AT 2021 LWX remained unused in the observatory's database, Weizmann said, before scientists noticed it the following year.
Direct observation of the phenomenon changed the situation, while an analysis of the light proved that it took eight billion years to reach the telescope.
"an actual puzzle"
Astronomers still ask questions about the cause of this phenomenon. It could be a supernova, that is, a massive explosion of a star at the end of its life. But the brightness caused by AT2021LWX is ten times greater than that produced by the supernova.
The second possibility is that this explosion is an astronomical phenomenon represented by the rupture of a star after it came too close to a supermassive black hole, but the brightness of “AT 2021 LWX” is three times more to prove a similar scenario.
And the measured brightness is comparable only to the brightness of quasars, as these galaxies harbor a supermassive black hole that sticks to matter by emitting a huge amount of light.
But the light from the quasars is bright, whereas in AT 2021 LWX the light suddenly worsened three years ago. "We've never seen a similar phenomenon (...). It seems to come out of nowhere," Weizmann says.
And his team has an idea mentioned in the study, which is that a huge cloud of gas, the size of 5 thousand suns, is being devoured by a massive black hole.
Since the principle of science is that "there are no confirmed theories", the team works on new simulations through the use of a set of data, with the aim of testing the "deterministic plausibility" of its theory.
But the problem lies in the supermassive black holes that are supposed to be in the center of galaxies, and that the size of “AT 2021 LWX” should be similar to the size of the Milky Way.
No one has yet discovered a galaxy in the vicinity of the observed phenomenon. "It's a real puzzle," says Wiseman.
Research in space and observational databases is required, and similar phenomena are likely to help provide clear explanations for AT2021LWX .
Source : websites