Black Hole Devours Star, Unleashes 10 Trillion Sun Inferno
Astronomers have detected the most powerful black hole flare on record, where a supermassive black hole—500 million times the Sun's mass—ripped apart a massive star (at least 30 times the Sun's mass) in a violent tidal disruption event. This cataclysmic feeding frenzy produced a blaze of light equivalent to 10 trillion Suns, visible from 10 billion light-years away.
The flare, first spotted in a 2018 sky survey and analyzed in 2023, has blazed for over seven years and counting, peaking at 30 times brighter than any prior black hole outburst.
Scientists believe the star was hurled into the black hole's grasp during a cosmic collision, offering new insights into the chaotic feeding habits and evolutionary dynamics of these cosmic behemoths. As lead researcher Matthew Graham noted, "This massive flare is just so much more energetic than anything we’ve ever seen before."
