Astronomers recently observed the largest cosmic explosion ever witnessed in the known universe, and no physics phenomenon has been able to explain it. The explosion is characterized by a fireball that spans nearly 100 times the size of our Solar System, and has been actively glowing for over three years. Incredibly, within this short span of time, it has already emitted approximately 100 times the energy that the sun will produce throughout its entire 10-billion-year lifespan.
However, there remain several questions to address regarding the nature of this cosmic event. Do the origins of this event lie in a black hole? If it is so bright, then how did astronomers miss it in the first place? Finally, and most importantly, how could this discovery pave the way for new physics?
The 62nd episode of the Sunday Discovery Series answers all these questions.
All Episodes Of The Series:
Basics of Astrophysics series:
RESEARCH PAPER:
Scary Barbie: An Extremely Energetic, Long-duration Tidal Disruption Event Candidate without a Detected Host Galaxy at z = 0.995, Subrayan et al. –
Created By: Rishabh Nakra
Written By: Simran Buttar
Narrated By: Jeffrey Smith
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