Brightest and hungriest black hole ever detected - BBC News

Astronomers report an object that shines with a brightness equivalent to 500 trillion suns.

5 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ESOImage caption, Artwork: The bright core of J0529-4351 is powered by a supermassive black holeBy Jonathan AmosScience correspondentThe most luminous object ever detected has been spied in the distant Universe.

It's a quasar - the bright core of a galaxy that is powered by a gargantuan black hole some 17 billion times the mass of our Sun.

Known as J0529-4351, the object's power was confirmed in observations by the Very Large Telescope in Chile.

Scientists, reporting in the journal Nature Astronomy, say the black hole has a voracious appetite, consuming the mass equivalent to one Sun every day.

J0529-4351 was actually recorded in data many years ago but its true glory has only just been recognised.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68346725

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