Astronomers Find What May Be The Universe’s Brightest Object With A Black Hole Devouring A Sun A Day
February 19, 2024 1:59PM AKST
This illustration provided by the European Southern Observatory in February 2024, depicts the record-breaking quasar J059-4351, the bright core of a distant galaxy that is powered by a supermassive black hole. The supermassive black hole, seen here pulling in surrounding matter, has a mass 17 billion times that of the Sun and is growing in mass by the equivalent of another Sun per day, making it the fastest-growing black hole ever known. (M. Kornmesser/ESO via AP)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe.
The record-breaking quasar has a black hole at its heart that’s so big and growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day.
This distant quasar shines 500 trillion times brighter than our sun, and its black hole is more than 17 billion times more immense than our sun.
An Australian-led team reported the findings Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The scientists say the object was misclassified as a star decades ago and therefore hiding in plain sight.
