Astronomers find what may be the universe's brightest object with a black hole devouring a sun a day

Source: Associated Press

Astronomers find what may be the universe’s brightest object with a black hole devouring a sun a day

BY MARCIA DUNN
Updated 5:41 PM EST, February 19, 2024

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe, a quasar with a black hole at its heart growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day.

The record-breaking quasar shines 500 trillion times brighter than our sun. The black hole powering this distant quasar is more than 17 billion times more immense than our sun, an Australian-led team reported Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.

While the quasar resembles a mere dot in images, scientists envision a ferocious place.

The rotating disk around the quasar’s black hole — the luminous swirling gas and other matter from gobbled-up stars — is like a cosmic hurricane.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/brightest-object-universe-quasar-46ecf903335014ee870ab1adcf70235b