Astronomers discovered a record-breaking eruption, the largest explosion in the universe since the Big Bang
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Astronomers discovered a record-breaking eruption, the largest explosion in the universe since the Big Bang: an explosion to which all others pale by comparison. The blast came from a black hole at the center of a remote galaxy, approximately 390 million light-years away.
Scientists discovered the black hole by using several Earthbound telescopes and observatories. Simona Giacintucci, lead author of the study, stated that the explosion was comparable to how the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 ripped off the top of the mountain in some ways. A significant difference being that one could fit more than ten Milky Way galaxies in a row in the crater that this eruption punched into the cluster's hot gas.
Interestingly enough, black holes are mainly known for pulling matter in not blasting it out. In reality, they often discharge immense quantities of energy and matter. This occurs when material falling toward the black hole is redirected into jets or beams, that burst outward into space and crash into any surrounding matter.
Energy-rich particles made their way through intergalactic gas at the speed of light, leaving behind a gigantic void. The explosion was not a quick blast, but in fact, a process that perhaps lasted for many millions of years, and thus became thousands of times bigger than comparable previously known explosions in the universe. The created 'crater/void' needed five times the amount of energy of the former record holder.
Evidence for the biggest explosion seen in the Universe comes from a combination of X-ray data from Chandra and XMM-Newton, and the Murchison Widefield Array and Giant Metrewave Telescope - Image Credits:: X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/NRL/S. Giacintucci, et al., XMM-Newton: ESA/XMM-Newton; Radio: NCRA/TIFR/GMRT; Infrared: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF
Astronomers already observed the massive void back in 2016 using the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Back then, scientists didn't really believe the gap was a result of an explosion as they discounted the possibility, partially due to the immense amount of energy that would be needed by the black hole to create a void of this dimension. This time around, astronomers examined the void with both radio telescopes and X-ray telescopes and concluded that it was, in fact, created by a gigantic explosion.
The researchers are still puzzled by the fact that just a single large area of radio emission is seen. These types of systems ordinarily contain two on opposing sides of the black hole. It might be plausible that the gas on the opposite side of the cluster from the cavity is less thick, so the radio emission faded faster on that side.
Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, a co-author of the study, asserted that multi-wavelength observations like these are often a necessity to truly understand the physical processes that are at work.
It is exciting to see multi-wavelength observations put to good use like this. We can't wait to see what other fascinating things astronomers will undoubtedly find in the future using this method. If you're interested in the subject and would like to get a more detailed report on the matter, be sure to check out the paper listed below.
Sources and further reading: NASA press release - Paper: Discovery of a giant radio fossil in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster
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