A team of astrophysicists from the University of Oregon has discovered one of the most powerful and energetic forces in the universe, possibly 100 trillion times stronger than the Death Star from 'Star Wars'.
A supermassive black hole has been producing more energy than the 'Death Star' for the past four years, according to a new study by an astrophysicist from the University of Oregon.
This phenomenon is associated with the remnants of a torn-apart star, which is estimated to contain a massive reserve of energy. Scientists expect that the intense radio wave emissions from this black hole will continue for another year, peaking in 2027.
The jet of material erupting from this recently discovered black hole is one of the most energetically powerful and luminous forces ever found in the universe, comparable in strength to a gamma-ray burst.
In pop culture terms, it is estimated to be at least a trillion times, and possibly nearly 100 trillion times, more powerful than the infamous 'Death Star' from 'Star Wars'.
"This is really something exceptional. I find it hard to recall anything that has built up over such a long time," noted University of Oregon astrophysicist Ivette Sendes.
The study was published on Thursday in the Astrophysical Journal.
What makes this black hole so unique?
Situations where stars come too close to black holes and are torn apart by their gravitational fields, without reaching the point of no return, are quite common; these are called tidal disruption events. The same gravitational forces that cause such events are responsible for ocean tides on Earth.
In such cases, gravitational attraction tears a star apart in a process known as "spaghettification," a term popularized by physicist Stephen Hawking.
During this process, stars are significantly compressed horizontally and stretched vertically into long thin strands resembling spaghetti, mainly due to the powerful tidal forces around the black hole.
However, it is extremely unusual for a black hole to continue emitting so much energy even years after the star's destruction.
According to Sendes, she discovered this specific tidal disruption event in 2018, but only began to study it closely a few years later, in 2022, when the black hole was still actively emitting energy in the form of radio waves.
The emitted energy is now about 50 times brighter than in 2019: the radiation is erupting in a single jet directed in one direction. The area around the black hole also emits a very faint visible light.
This supermassive black hole has been assigned the scientific designation AT2018hyz, and Sendes jokingly refers to it as Jetty McJetface.
While no one can say for certain how much the emission power will increase, Sendes is closely monitoring the black hole.
She is also searching for other black holes that may behave similarly but may have gone unnoticed, as such phenomena have previously received little attention.
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