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An explosion surprised astronomers with its intensity and its equally rapid disappearance. A black hole could be at the origin.
Astronomers are “impressed”. An “ultra explosion” spotted by researchers located in Hawaii, Chile and in South Africa, emitted up to 100 times more energy thana supernova average, reveals an article from the specialized media Space this September 8. The explosion, named AT2022aedm, was observed as it emerged of a galaxy red located about 2 billion light years from Earth. Researchers quickly determined that this was something never seen before.
” AT2022aedm is notable for being one of the brightest explosions we have ever observed, and is also one of the fastest to die out after its peak said Matt Nicholl, an astrophysicist at Queen’s University Belfast.
In just two weeks, AT2022aedm emitted as much energy as the sun during its 10 billion years of existence. The brilliance was of such magnitude that it merited the creation of a new category in its own right: “Luminous Fast Cooler” or LFC (luminous rapid cooling). This name is a nod by researcher Matt Nicholl and his colleagues to their favorite football team, Liverpool Football Club, which also goes by the acronym LFC.
A black hole surrounded by stars
The origin of the explosion? ” I think the most plausible explanation for LFCs such as AT2022aedm would be the destruction of stars by a black hole » says Matt Nicholl. If a low mass black hole was in a dense environment with many stars and the stars came too close, a stellar black hole would still be able to tear apart and consume these stars.
However, we cannot speak of Supernova. ” The galaxy in which the explosion is observed contains only old, low-mass stars; they have no more than eight times the mass of the sun, and that’s what we need to get a supernova », explained the astronomer. A black hole would therefore be a clear culprit.
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