Black Hole May Be ‘100 Trillion Times’ More Powerful Than The Death Star : ScienceAlert

Supermassive Black Hole Unleashes Unprecedented Energy Surge, Outshining the Death Star by Trillions

In a cosmic spectacle that has stunned astronomers worldwide, a supermassive black hole located billions of light-years away is continuing to emit an extraordinary surge of energy—four years after first devouring a wandering star. This remarkable tidal disruption event (TDE), known as AT2018hyz, is defying all expectations by growing brighter and more powerful with each passing year.

Initially detected in 2018 by the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASASS-SN), AT2018hyz appeared to be just another stellar casualty of a black hole’s immense gravitational pull. However, in 2022, researchers led by Dr. Yvette Cendes of the University of Oregon made a startling discovery: the black hole was emitting intense radio waves, and its energy output was still climbing.

“This is really unusual,” said Dr. Cendes. “I’d be hard-pressed to think of anything rising like this over such a long period of time.”

A Cosmic Powerhouse

The latest observations, published in The Astrophysical Journal, reveal that the black hole’s energy emissions have skyrocketed to 50 times their original brightness. Even more astonishing, the energy output is now comparable to that of a gamma-ray burst (GRB)—the most luminous and energetic explosions in the universe.

To put this into perspective, researchers compared the black hole’s power to the fictional Death Star from Star Wars. Their calculations suggest that the black hole is emitting at least one trillion times more energy than the Death Star—potentially up to 100 trillion times more. This makes AT2018hyz one of the most energetic events ever witnessed by humanity.

Unraveling the Mystery

The continued rise in energy has left scientists scrambling to understand the underlying mechanisms. Two leading theories have emerged:

1. Delayed Spherical Outflow: In this scenario, the black hole launched a massive outflow of material approximately 620 days after the initial disruption. This delayed ejection could explain the sustained increase in energy.

2. Off-Axis Relativistic Jet: Alternatively, the black hole may have produced a highly focused jet of material traveling at near-light speeds. Initially obscured by relativistic beaming, the jet’s emissions became visible as it decelerated and spread outward.

A New Frontier in Astronomy

What makes AT2018hyz even more intriguing is its uniqueness among tidal disruption events. While other TDEs have exhibited delayed radio emissions, none have matched the extreme luminosity of AT2018hyz. This discovery raises a tantalizing question: Are there other black holes out there exhibiting similar behavior, waiting to be discovered?

Dr. Cendes and her team plan to continue monitoring AT2018hyz across multiple frequencies, hoping to unravel the mysteries of its ongoing evolution. Their findings could reshape our understanding of black holes and the extreme physics governing their behavior.

Tags: #BlackHole #SupermassiveBlackHole #TidalDisruptionEvent #AT2018hyz #GammaRayBurst #DeathStar #CosmicEnergy #SpaceDiscovery #Astronomy #UniverseToday #ScienceAlert #Astrophysics #RelativisticJet #DelayedOutflow #SpacePhenomena #CosmicExplosion #EnergySurge #BlackHolePower #SpaceScience #UniverseMysteries

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