The sudden brightening of a supermassive black hole has made it the brightest object in the sky

The unexpected brightening of a supermassive black hole 10 billion light-years from Earth has shocked scientists. The brightness of this space black hole was such that it was called the brightest object in the sky.

Astronomers are constantly exploring different parts of space to gain a deeper understanding of the universe. Some groups have considered finding signs of extraterrestrial life, and others are looking for an alternative planet to Earth. Also, some aim at distant stars, and of course, a group also examines cosmic explosions.

The illumination of the supermassive black hole surprised astronomers

The same last group was also trying to find rare explosions when they suddenly encountered an unimaginable explosion. Apparently, a supermassive black hole was suddenly illuminated in the early days of the universe and was able to turn from a dark spot into the brightest object in the sky in the blink of an eye. Scientists have named this black hole J221951 and estimate that it is about 10 billion light years away from Earth.

Thus, at the time of the black hole’s light, the universe was a quarter of its current age. Perhaps most of all, the extremely large distance of this black hole from the Earth attracts attention. Despite this great distance, the black hole’s glow was so intense that astronomers initially mistook it for a stellar explosion less than 1 billion light-years away.

There are many celestial bodies in the universe that retain their brightness for a long time. However, the glow of the black hole did not last long and disappeared immediately. This is what caused scientists to call it the brightest temporary object in the world.

Matt Nicholl, an astronomer at Queen’s University Belfast, is one of the lead authors of the paper. He emphasized that although in recent years our understanding of the various things that megamass black holes can do has increased dramatically; But J221951 managed to surprise us. The first happened when researchers followed the path of a gravitational wave. These waves are created as a result of massive cosmic collisions in the fabric of space-time.

The team initially suspected that the wave was the result of the collision of two dense dead stars, also known as neutron stars. Scientists previously knew that if such an event occurs, a very bright explosion called a kilonova or supernova will occur. Of course, this wave in the context of space-time was related to a bright object; But there were also contradictions.

The spaghetti process of a star by a black hole

The supernova appears blue at first and then turns red over the course of a few days before darkening. However, this point in the sky remained bright and blue for several months. This rate is much higher than starbursts. This also led to the formation of the hypothesis of clarifying a mass black hole in the minds of some team members. However, they needed more evidence to investigate this issue.

The team used data from several different telescopes, including NASA’s Hubble Telescope and the Nile Girls Swift Observatory. The data showed that this mysterious object is located at the center of a relatively dark and distant galaxy. Scientists already knew that there is a supermassive black hole at the center of most galaxies, and this also applies to the Milky Way. This strengthened the hypothesis of the lightening of the mass black hole.

However, the bright object did not intend to turn off and the scientists also thought that maybe the light received was from the galaxy itself. However, after 10 months, the received light finally began to fade, and it became clear that an intense burst of energy had created it.

If we accept that the scientists’ observations are correct and that J221951 is indeed a supermassive black hole, there are two explanations for its sudden illumination and this bright explosion. First of all, a star orbiting near a black hole is suddenly caught in the grip of its strong gravity. Due to the spaghetti effect, the black hole has disintegrated different parts of the star and pulled it in layer by layer.

The second reason the black hole lights up seems a bit mysterious. For unknown reasons, the black hole has suddenly turned from inactive to active and has begun to swallow the gas pellet around it at a high speed. Astronomers said that to determine the reason for the black hole’s sudden light-up, they need to further investigate its energy output.

If the black hole becomes bright again, it can be said that it is fully activated and is feeding from the surrounding environment. However, if this never happens again, we can say that a lucky star has suddenly fallen into a black hole on its way. Of course, don’t forget that all these events happened 10 billion years ago and we are only looking back. Indeed, falling into a black hole can also be an interesting death!