Discovery of Largest and Most Distant Black Hole Flare | 14 Nov 2025

Source: IE 

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.