The largest explosion in the universe since the Big Bang was discovered by astronomers.
The explosion came from a supermassive black hole in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster about 390 million light years from Earth.
Scientists say it released five times more energy than anything seen before and left a giant dent in the galaxy cluster.
Professor Melanie Johnston-Hollitt of the International Center for Research in Radio Astronomy said: “This is the most energetic explosion we have seen since the Big Bang.
“We have already seen explosions in galaxy centers, but this one is really, really huge.
“But it happened very slowly – like an idle explosion that happened over hundreds of millions of years.”
Professor Johnston-Hollitt said the explosion would have taken place between 240 million and 400 million years ago.
The explosion was so powerful that it blew up a hole in the cluster’s plasma – the super hot gas surrounding the black hole.
Dr. Simona Giacintucci of the Naval Research Laboratory in America, who led the study, said in some ways that the explosion was similar to the eruption of Mount St Helens in 1980, which ripped off the top of the mountain.
But she said, “The difference is that you can insert 15 Milky Way galaxies in a row into the crater, this eruption has blown hot gas from the cluster.”
Professor Johnston-Hollitt said scientists initially rejected the fact that the hole could have been caused by an explosion of energy because it was too large.
“People were skeptical of the magnitude of the explosion,” she said.
“But that’s really it. The universe is a strange place.”
Astronomers only realized what had happened by looking at the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster with four radio telescopes, including the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Western Australia and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India. .
Professor Johnston-Hollitt said the discovery would likely be the first in a long series.
“We made this discovery with the first phase of the MWA, when the telescope had 2,048 antennas pointing towards the sky,” she said.
“We will soon be collecting observations with 4,096 antennas, which should be 10 times more sensitive.
“I think it’s pretty exciting.”
The discovery is published in the Astrophysical Journal.
The largest explosion in the universe since the Big Bang was discovered by astronomers.
The explosion came from a supermassive black hole in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster about 390 million light years from Earth.
Scientists say it released five times more energy than anything seen before and left a giant dent in the galaxy cluster.
Professor Melanie Johnston-Hollitt of the International Center for Research in Radio Astronomy said: “This is the most energetic explosion we have seen since the Big Bang.
“We have already seen explosions in galaxy centers, but this one is really, really huge.
“But it happened very slowly – like an idle explosion that happened over hundreds of millions of years.”
Professor Johnston-Hollitt said the explosion would have taken place between 240 million and 400 million years ago.
The explosion was so powerful that it blew up a hole in the cluster’s plasma – the super hot gas surrounding the black hole.
Dr. Simona Giacintucci of the Naval Research Laboratory in America, who led the study, said in some ways that the explosion was similar to the eruption of Mount St Helens in 1980, which ripped off the top of the mountain.
But she said, “The difference is that you can insert 15 Milky Way galaxies in a row into the crater, this eruption has blown hot gas from the cluster.”
Professor Johnston-Hollitt said scientists initially rejected the fact that the hole could have been caused by an explosion of energy because it was too large.
“People were skeptical of the magnitude of the explosion,” she said.
“But that’s really it. The universe is a strange place.”
Astronomers only realized what had happened by looking at the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster with four radio telescopes, including the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Western Australia and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India. .
Professor Johnston-Hollitt said the discovery would likely be the first in a long series.
“We made this discovery with the first phase of the MWA, when the telescope had 2,048 antennas pointing towards the sky,” she said.
“We will soon be collecting observations with 4,096 antennas, which should be 10 times more sensitive.
“I think it’s pretty exciting.”
The discovery is published in the Astrophysical Journal.