The brightest known object in the universe, a quasar 500 tons times brighter than the Sun, was “hidden in plain sight,” researchers say.
Australian scientists have discovered a quasar powered by the fastest growing black hole ever discovered. Its mass is about 17 billion times that of the sun in our solar system, and it devours the equivalent of one sun a day.
Light from celestial bodies took more than 12 billion years to reach Earth.
Scientists from the Australian National University first discovered the star using a 2.3 meter telescope at the university's NSW Siding Springs Observatory in Coonabarabran. They then confirmed their discovery using the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope, which has a 39-meter primary mirror.
The findings, carried out by ANU researchers in collaboration with ESO, the University of Melbourne and France's Sorbonne University, have been published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Lead author ANU Associate Professor Christian Wolff said it was the brightest known object in the universe and its incredible growth rate meant “a huge release of light and heat”, breaking records. He said he did not think he would be able to do so.
The light is emitted from an “accretion disk” that is 7 light years in diameter. That disk is where matter is drawn into the black hole and spirals around it before crossing the event horizon.
When that material collides with other materials, it generates enormous amounts of light and heat.
“It looks like a giant geomagnetic storm cell, with temperatures of 10,000 degrees Celsius, lightning everywhere, and winds blowing so fast that it would circle the Earth in an instant,” Wolf said. Ta.
“This storm cell has a diameter of 7 light years, which is 50% longer than the distance from our solar system to the galaxy's next star, Alpha Centauri.”
Co-author Dr. Christopher Onken said it was surprising that it went undetected for so long, saying it had been “hidden in plain sight”.
Wolf said he had two different feelings about the discovery.
“Part of it is that when you imagine this hellish place, when you imagine this situation, you feel a bit of a shock and awe moment. Nature has created something even more extreme than we've ever thought possible. It creates,” he said.
“The other thing is a little bit of cheeky joy. We found it! Nature doesn't make it easy. It's like, 'Oh, there you are!'”