Black hole shreds distant 'super sun,' unleashing a spectacular event known as the Whippet
Phys.org••science
Key Points:
- Astronomers observed a rare and powerful cosmic event where a black hole shredded a massive star, creating an explosion with energy 400 billion times that of the sun, surpassing known supernovae in intensity.
- The event, designated AT2024wpp and nicknamed the Whippet, was identified as a Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT), characterized by its blue color and X-ray emissions, confirming the star's destruction and consumption by the black hole.
- The discovery was made using multiple observatories including the Zwicky Transient Facility, Liverpool Telescope, NASA's Swift satellite, and others, enabling detailed analysis of the event's extreme temperature, energy output, and shock-wave behavior.
- The shock-wave from
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