KARACHI: Researchers have discovered the brightest object in the universe, 500 trillion times brighter than the sun.
According to the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the newly discovered quasar is the brightest object ever observed and is caused by a massive black hole that eats the equivalent mass of one sun each day. It is now the fastest growing black hole. up to now.
Quasars are the bright cores of distant galaxies, driven by supermassive black holes. According to ESO, this record-breaking quasar black hole is growing at a mass equivalent to one sun per day, making it the fastest growing black hole ever.
The Guardian reported that a group of scientists from the Australian National University discovered the first quasar at an observatory in the town of Coonabarabran, near the Australian state of New South Wales. This discovery was later confirmed using ESO’s Very Large Telescope.
“We have discovered the fastest growing black hole ever known. It has a mass of 17 billion suns and eats just over one sun a day. This makes it the fastest growing black hole in the known universe. It will be a bright object,” study lead author Christian Wolff was quoted as saying by ESO.
The quasar, known as J0529-4351, is so far from Earth that it took more than 12 billion years for its light to reach us.
Another study said the brightest quasars were significantly hidden from view.
“It’s surprising that it remained unknown until today, when we already know about a million or so less impressive quasars that have literally been staring us in the face,” said the co-author of the study. Author Christopher Onken told ESO.
Studying distant supermassive black holes could answer some of the most common questions about galaxies and their evolution, and solve some of the mysteries of the early universe, researchers say.
Published at Dawn on February 21, 2024
