An Explosion of a Massive Star: May Have Been Triggered by a Black Hole Star-Destroyer
An explosion of a massive star – A powerful event in space. (Photo: NASA)
An Explosion of a Massive Star: Black Hole in Space Ripping Apart a Star Leads to Astonishing AT2022aedm Event
According to Space article, a groundbreaking cosmic event, possibly triggered by the influence of a black hole in space, has been observed. Named AT2022aedm, this extraordinary phenomenon, characterized by an explosion of a massive star, originated in a red galaxy located roughly 2 billion light-years from Earth. Astronomers used robotic telescopes within the ATLAS network, situated in Hawaii, Chile, and South Africa, to capture this unprecedented event.
Lead scientist Matt Nicholl, an astrophysicist at Queen’s University Belfast, shared insights into this remarkable discovery. He highlighted the team’s continuous quest for anomalies in the universe, as they stand out from the routine supernovas. AT2022aedm, characterized by an explosion of a massive star, distinguished itself by being among the brightest explosions ever witnessed and rapidly diminishing in brightness following its peak. AT2022aedm exhibited an astonishing release of energy, surpassing standard supernovas by up to 100-fold. Notably, it faded to a mere 1% of its initial luminosity within just 14 days, subsequently vanishing completely. This rapid energy emission means that in a mere fortnight, AT2022aedm emitted an amount of energy equivalent to what the sun generates over its entire 10 billion-year existence.
The extraordinary characteristics of AT2022aedm led researchers to classify it as the inaugural instance of a “Luminous Fast Cooler” (LFC). The name pays homage to both the event’s unique properties and the team’s passion for the English Premier League’s Liverpool Football Club, known by the acronym “LFC.” Nicholl and his colleagues explored various hypotheses before arriving at an explosion of a massive star, a compelling explanation for LFC events like AT2022aedm. They postulate that the destruction of stars by black holes in space may hold the key to understanding these exceptional cosmic phenomena.
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Black Hole in Space: Mysterious Star Explosion Points to Unusual Activity
According to Flipboard article, to identify the cause of the extraordinary cosmic event, the team led by Matt Nicholl from Queen’s University Belfast systematically ruled out common explanations. It wasn’t a typical supernova or an explosion of a massive star, as it was far more powerful and faster. Moreover, the galaxy where it occurred lacked stars massive enough to trigger such an event.
It also didn’t resemble the uniform radiation output of an explosion of a massive star, a Type-Ia supernova. While black holes were suspected, it wasn’t a supermassive black hole event due to the location away from the galaxy’s center. Instead, a smaller black hole, possibly of intermediate size, was considered. This discovery opens exciting possibilities for understanding black hole behavior and cosmic surprises.
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