Overview
- The outburst, first seen in 2018, is now reported as the most luminous and most distant black hole flare yet, originating roughly 10 billion light-years away.
- At peak it was about 30 times more luminous than any previously observed black hole flare, rising over roughly three months and then steadily fading for more than seven years.
- Researchers estimate a supermassive black hole of roughly hundreds of millions of solar masses tore apart a star at least 30 times the Sun's mass.
- The flare was detected by wide-field surveys including a camera at Palomar Observatory, with follow-up observations from telescopes in California, Arizona, and Hawaii.
- The team assessed alternatives such as a supernova, a jet, or gravitational lensing and found they did not fit the data, though continued observations aim to refine the tidal-disruption picture.