Specialists believe that what they are observing is the process of destroying a huge cloud of gas – thousands of times the size of the Sun – by a black hole. Parts of the cloud have fallen into the black hole, and the resulting shock waves travel through the rest of the cloud that has surrounded the black hole, forming a donut shape.
AT2021lwx was detected in 2020 by the Zwicky Transient Facility and confirmed by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System. These installations scan the night sky for objects that change brightness rapidly. Such changes may indicate the presence of a supernova or passing comets or asteroids. However, at the time of detection, the scale of the explosion was not known. The appearance of a bright object in the sky was noticed by the supernova search algorithm. However, supernovae never last that long.
So the scientists conducted a series of studies using different telescopes. They analyzed the light spectrum, measured the lines of absorption and emission, which allowed them to determine the distance to the object. “Once we know the distance and how bright an object appears to us, we can calculate the brightness of the object at its source.” When we did, we realized that it was extremely bright says Professor Sebastian Hönig.
The only objects that match AT2021lwx in brightness are quasars, supermassive black holes that are constantly being blasted by gas rushing at tremendous speed. – In the case of quasars there are changes in brightness. Sometimes they are brighter, sometimes darker. We looked at archival data from the decade prior to the discovery of AT2021lwx. There was nothing there, and suddenly the brightest object in the universe appears – adds Professor Mark Sullivan.
The phenomenon can be interpreted in many different ways, but the most likely explanation is that the black hole is destroying a giant cloud of gas, mainly hydrogen. Scientists hope that in the coming years, thanks to new devices such as the Vera Rubin Observatory, they will find more objects similar to AT2021lwx and be able to study them better.
2023-05-12 09:39:57
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