Rapid Fire
Discovery of Largest and Most Distant Black Hole Flare
- 14 Nov 2025
- 2 min read
Astronomers have detected the largest and most distant flare from a black hole, originating from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) J2245+3743, located 10 billion light-years away from Earth.
- Brightest Flare: First observed in 2018, this black hole is responsible for the brightest flare ever recorded, linked to a tidal disruption event (TDE) caused by the consumption of a star.
- A TDE is a cataclysmic phenomenon where a star is torn apart by the intense gravitational forces of a supermassive black hole, releasing an intense flash of radiation.
- Flare Characteristics: The flare intensified by 40 times over several months, peaking at 30 times the brightness of any previous black hole flare and releasing energy equivalent to 10 trillion suns.
- Star Consumption: In 2023, data from the Keck Observatory confirmed the flare’s intense energy and ruled out the possibility of a supernova, showing that the star being consumed is 30 times the mass of the Sun, much larger than those in previous TDEs.
- Time Dilation Effect: The black hole's immense gravity causes cosmological time dilation, stretching the light and allowing researchers to observe the event at a slower pace, offering valuable insights into black hole dynamics.
- Solar Flare: A solar flare is a powerful explosion on the Sun caused by the sudden release of energy stored in twisted magnetic fields, often above sunspots, appearing as bright areas on the Sun.
- These flares can last from minutes to hours, heating materials to millions of degrees and emitting a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, including radio waves, x-rays, and gamma rays.
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