Astronomers have discovered the most powerful cosmic explosions since the Big Bang, naming them “extreme nuclear transients.”
These incredibly energetic explosions occur when stars with masses at least three times greater than that of the sun are torn apart by supermassive black holes.
While such events have been witnessed before, astronomers say some of the ones recently discovered are powerful enough to be classified as a new phenomenon: extreme nuclear transients (ENTs).
That’s because these events appeared to release far more energy than other known star explosions, or supernovas, and seemed to last much longer.
Aside from being the most powerful known explosions in the universe, ENTs can help astronomers learn more about monster black holes in faraway galaxies.
“Extreme nuclear transients” are the strongest cosmic explosions that astronomers have found since the Big Bang. “.
Supermassive black holes tearing apart stars at least three times the mass of the sun produce these extraordinarily powerful explosions. Even though these kinds of events have been seen before, astronomers claim that some of the most recent ones are strong enough to be categorized as extreme nuclear transients (ENTs), a brand-new phenomenon.
The University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy (IfA) researcher Jason Hinkle, who led a study on the phenomenon, said in a statement, “We’ve seen stars being torn apart as tidal disruption events for more than ten years, but these ENTs are different beasts, reaching brightnesses nearly ten times more than what we typically see.”. “I knew something strange was happening when I noticed these long-lasting, smooth flares coming from the centers of far-off galaxies. “..”.
Hinkle was looking through data on persistent flares coming from galactic centers when he found out about these ENTs. The European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft captured Hinkle’s attention in 2016 and 2018, respectively, with two flares.
Researchers found evidence that the two phenomena found by Gaia belonged to a new class of extreme cosmic explosions when a third event found in 2020 by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) looked similar. Compared to other known star explosions, or supernovas, these events seemed to last much longer and release a lot more energy.
Tidal disruption events (TDEs), which are enormous energy releases that happen when stars are torn apart by the strong gravitational pull of black holes and a large portion of their mass is thrown into space, were also different from these explosions. TDEs, however, usually only last a few hours; Hinkle and other researchers’ events seemed to go on for a lot longer. According to Hinkle’s statement, “ENTs are not only much brighter than typical tidal disruption events, but they also stay luminous for years, far surpassing the energy output of even the brightest known supernova explosions.”.
The energy released by one of these ENTs, which astronomers have named Gaia18cdj, was more than 25 times that of the most potent supernova ever found and more than the energy released by 100 suns in their lifetime.
Astronomers can learn more about monster black holes in distant galaxies by studying ENTs, which are the universe’s most powerful known explosions. According to Benjamin Shappee of IfA, a co-author of the study, this is because these events are so bright that they can be seen over great distances.
In the statement, Shappee said, “By observing these prolonged flares, we gain insights into black hole growth when the universe was half its current age and galaxies were busy places — forming stars and feeding their supermassive black holes 10 times more intensively than they do today.”.
