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Most Intense Black Hole Flare Recorded as Massive Star Gets Torn Apart

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A supermassive black hole in the process of engulfing a massive star

California Institute of Technology/R. Hurt (IPAC)

Astronomers have made an astounding discovery of the brightest flare ever observed from a supermassive black hole. This flare was so intense that it can only be attributed to a tidal disruption event (TDE), where a colossal star was torn apart by a distant galaxy’s black hole, unleashing an extraordinary burst of energy that is still resonating.

Originating from an active galactic nucleus (AGN) — a supermassive black hole at the core of a galaxy consuming matter — this event is approximately 20 billion light-years from Earth, marking it as one of the most distant TDEs recorded. Notably, many TDEs remain undetected in AGNs due to the fluctuating brightness near these active black holes, which obscures the distinction between a TDE and other phenomena.

“For the last 60 years, we have understood AGNs to be highly volatile, but we lacked clarity about their variability,” explains Matthew Graham from the California Institute of Technology. “Currently, we are aware of millions of AGNs, yet their variability remains largely a mystery.” The event, dubbed “Superman” due to its remarkable brightness, holds the potential to unravel some of these cosmic enigmas.

Initially identified in 2018, astronomers speculated that Superman might merely be a bright explosion from a relatively nearby galaxy. It wasn’t until 2023 that subsequent observations unveiled its true distance and revealed that its brightness was significantly more intense than initially estimated.

This first flare enhanced AGN visibility to over 40 times greater and was 30 times more powerful than any other flare recorded from AGN. Graham and his research team concluded that the most plausible explanation is the disintegration of a massive star, possibly over 30 times the mass of the Sun.

All active supermassive black holes are surrounded by a region of infalling material known as an accretion disk. The matter density in this area is expected to yield substantial stars, although they have never been directly observed. “If our interpretation of this as a TDE is correct, it substantiates our hypothesis regarding the existence of these massive stars in such environments,” noted Graham.

“We once believed that active supermassive black holes simply housed gas disks that meandered about. However, this scenario is much more dynamic and active,” he adds. By examining the fading Superman, we may uncover a deeper understanding of its environment.

Moreover, it may lead to the establishment of a model for TDEs in AGNs, enhancing future detection efforts. “When a potential TDE is identified in an AGN, it remains uncertain whether it is merely an active galactic nucleus or if a true TDE is occurring, so having such unambiguous evidence is invaluable,” states Vivian Baldassare from Washington State University. “This will greatly aid in revealing future TDEs and understanding various AGN variability sources.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Scientists Discover Largest Black Hole Flare Ever Recorded, Emitting 10 Trillion Solar Rays

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A supermassive black hole has violently consumed a massive star, resulting in a cosmic explosion that shone as brightly as 10 trillion suns, according to a recent study.

This event, referred to as a black hole flare, is believed to be the largest and most remote ever detected.

“This is genuinely a one-in-a-million occurrence,” stated Matthew Graham, a research professor of astronomy at the California Institute of Technology and the lead author of the study published Tuesday in Nature Astronomy.

Graham indicated that based on the explosion’s intensity and duration, a black hole flare is likely the explanation, but further studies will be necessary to validate this conclusion.

While it is common for black holes to devour nearby stars, gas, dust, and other materials, such significant flare events are exceptionally rare, according to Graham.

“This enormous flare is far more energetic than anything we’ve encountered previously,” he remarked, noting that the explosion’s peak luminosity was 30 times that of any black hole flare documented so far.

Its extreme intensity is partly due to the massive size of the celestial objects involved. The star that came too close to the black hole is estimated to possess at least 30 times the mass of the Sun, while the supermassive black hole and its surrounding matter disk are estimated to be 500 million times more massive than the Sun.

Graham mentioned that these powerful explosions have persisted for more than seven years and are likely still ongoing.

The flare was initially detected in 2018 during a comprehensive sky survey using three ground-based telescopes. At the time, it was identified as a “particularly bright object,” but follow-up observations months later yielded little valuable data.

Consequently, black hole flares were mostly overlooked until 2023, when Graham and his team opted to revisit some intriguing findings from their earlier research. Astronomers have since managed to roughly ascertain the distance to this exceptionally bright object, and the results were astonishing.

“Suddenly, I thought, ‘Wow, this is actually quite far away,'” Graham explained. “And if it’s this far away and this bright, how much energy is it emitting? This is both unusual and intriguing.”

While the exact circumstances of the star’s demise remain unclear, Graham hypothesized that a cosmic collision might have nudged the star from its typical orbit around the black hole, leading to a close encounter.

This finding enhances our understanding of black hole behavior and evolution.

“Our perspective on supermassive black holes and their environments has dramatically transformed over the past five to ten years,” Graham stated. “We once pictured most galaxies in the universe with a supermassive black hole at the center, idly rumbling away. We now recognize it as a much more dynamic setting, and we are just beginning to explore its complexities.”

He noted that while the flares are gradually diminishing over time, they will remain detectable with ground-based telescopes for several more years.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Inouye Solar Telescope Reveals Unmatched Detail in Coronal Flare Loop

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Astronomers utilizing a visible broadband imager at NSF’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope captured an extraordinary coronal loop strand during the attenuation phase of the X1.3 class flare on August 8, 2024. This discovery heralds a significant advancement in determining the fundamental scale of solar coronal loops, advancing flare modeling into a groundbreaking territory.

High-resolution image of flares from the Inouye Solar Telescope, taken at 8:12 UT on August 2024. The image shows approximately four earth diamonds on each side. Labels for various related regions of the image are added to clarify: flare ribbons (bright regions of energy emissions in the dense low solar atmosphere) and arcades of coronal loops (arcs of magnetic field lines that transport energy from the corona to the flare ribbons). Image credit: NSF/NSO/AURA.

Coronal loops are plasma arches that follow solar magnetic field lines and often precede solar flares, which release massive amounts of energy tied to some of these lines.

This energy burst ignites solar storms that can impact Earth’s vital infrastructure.

Inouye astronomers observe sunlight at the H-Alpha wavelength (656.28 nm) to reveal specific solar features that remain hidden in other forms of solar observation.

“A lot of effort has gone into understanding this domain,” noted Dr. Cole Tamburi, an astronomer from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

“These flares represent some of the most energetic occurrences in our stars, and we were fortunate to capture this under ideal observational conditions.”

Dr. Tamburi and his team concentrated on the thin magnetic field loops resembling razors, woven over the flared ribbons.

On average, the loops measured around 48 km in width, although some results were limited by the telescope’s resolution.

“Before Inouye, I could only envision what this scale might look like,” remarked Dr. Tamburi.

“Now we can witness it in reality. These are the tiniest coronal loops observed on the sun.”

Inouye’s Visible Broadband Imager (VBI) tuned to the H-Alpha filter can resolve features down to 24 km.

This resolution is more than twice as sharp as that of the next best solar telescope, making this discovery possible.

“It’s one thing to theorize about a telescope’s capabilities,” commented Dr. Maria Kazachenko, PhD, from the University of Colorado Boulder.

“It’s invigorating to see those theories validated in practice.”

Initially, the research plan involved investigating the dynamics of chromospheric spectral lines using Inouye’s Visible Spectrometer (VISP). However, VBI data uncovered an unexpected treasure: an intricate coronal structure that can directly enhance flare models built with complex radiative hydrodynamic codes.

“We set out to find one thing and stumbled upon something even more intriguing,” Dr. Kazachenko stated.

The prevailing theory suggested that coronal loops could range from 10 to 100 km in width, but verifying this observationally had been challenging.

“We are finally gaining insight into the spatial scales we have long speculated about,” Dr. Tamburi explained.

“This paves the way for examining not just size, but shape, evolution, and even the scales where magnetic reconnection—the engine behind flares—occurs.”

Perhaps the most exciting implication is that these loops might be fundamental structures, core components of flare architecture.

“In that scenario, we wouldn’t just be mapping out clusters of loops; for the first time, we’re analyzing individual loops,” Dr. Tamburi added.

“It’s akin to observing a forest and suddenly recognizing all the trees.”

The image itself is stunning. A radiant arcade crowned with dark, thread-like loops, vibrant flared ribbons marked with strikingly sharp contours—ascending triangular patterns near the center and arc-shaped formations at the top.

“Even casual observers will soon recognize its complexity,” Dr. Tamburi remarked.

“This represents a landmark moment in solar science.”

“We are finally observing the sun at a scale that makes sense.”

The team’s paper will be published in Astrophysics Journal Letters.

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Cole A. Tumburi et al. 2025. Revealing unprecedented microstructure in coronal flare loops using DKIST. apjl in press; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ADF95E

Source: www.sci.news

Proxima Centauri exhibits intense flare activity and recent Alma observations reveal new insights

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While Proxima Centauri’s flaring activity is well known to astronomers using visible wavelengths, new observations on Atacama’s massive millimeter/sub-millimeter arrays (ALMAs) highlight the extreme activity of stars at radio and millimeter wavelengths.

The concept of violent star flare artists from Proxima Centauri. Image credit: S. Dagnello, nrao/aui/nsf.

Proxima Centauri is a red star, about 4.24 light years away from the constellation of Centaurus.

Discovered in 1915 by Scottish astronomer Robert Innes, the star is invisible to the naked eye.

Its average luminosity is very low, very small compared to other stars, only about one eighth of the mass of the sun.

Proxima Centauri is also known as the Alpha Centauri C, as it is actually part of the Triple Star system.

The separation of the stars from their larger companions, Alpha Centauri A and B, is about 0.2 light-years, equivalent to 400 times the orbit of Neptune.

Proxima Centauri hosts the terrestrial exoplanet Proxima B in a habitable zone of 0.0485 Au.

The stars are well-established as highly active stars and are the primary targets for investigating the effects of star activity on the habitability of planets orbiting Red War.

In the new study, astronomer Kiana Burton at the University of Colorado and astronomer Meredith McGregor at Johns Hopkins University, and colleagues used archival data and new Alma observations to study millimeter-wavelength flare activity.

The small size and strong magnetic field of the Proxima Centauri show that its entire internal structure is convection (unlike the sun, which has both convective and non-reliable layers).

The magnetic field will twist and develop tension, and eventually snap, sending energy and particle flow outwards to what is observed as flares.

“Our solar activity does not remove the Earth’s atmosphere and instead creates beautiful auroras because it has a thick atmosphere and a strong magnetic field to protect the planets,” Dr. McGregor said.

“But we know that Proxima Centauri’s flares are much stronger and there are rocky planets in their habitable zones.”

“What are these flares doing to their atmosphere? Are there any large fluxes of radiation and particles that are chemically altered or perhaps completely eroding at the atmosphere?”

This study represents the first multi-wavelength study using millimeter observations to reveal a new appearance in flare physics.

A total of 463 flare events were reported with 50 hours of ALMA observations using both the full 12-meter array and the 7-M Atacama Compact Array (ACA).twenty four On 1027 ERG, and a short period of 3-16 seconds.

“When you see the flare with Alma, you see electromagnetic radiation, that is, light of various wavelengths,” Dr. McGregor said.

“But this radio-wavelength flaring also gives us a way to track the properties of those particles and understand what is free from the stars.”

To this end, astronomers characterized the stars (so-called flare frequency distribution) and mapped the number of flares as a function of energy.

Typically, the gradient of this distribution tends to follow the power law function. More frequent (lower energy) flares occur more frequently, but larger, more energy flares do not occur regularly.

Proxima Centauri experiences so many flares, researchers have detected many flares within each energy range.

Furthermore, they were able to quantify the asymmetry of the highest energy flares of stars, explaining how the attenuation phase of the flare is much longer than the initial burst phase.

Radio and millimeter wavelength observations help to constrain the energy associated with these flares and their associated particles.

“Millimeter flares look much more frequent,” Dr. McGregor said.

“It’s a different power law than what you see at optical wavelengths.”

“Looking only at the optical wavelengths is missing important information.”

“The Alma is the only millimeter interferometer that is sensitive enough to these measurements.”

Team’s Survey results It was published in Astrophysical Journal.

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Kiana Burton et al. 2025. Proxima Centauri Campaign – First constraint on millimeter flare rate from Alma. APJ 982, 43; doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ada5f2

Source: www.sci.news

Astronomers observe massive flare emitted by Messier 82 magnetar

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Using sensitive instruments aboard ESA’s International Gamma-ray Astrophysics Laboratory (Integral) mission, astronomers GRB231115A Taken from the center of Messier 82 (M82, NGC 3034, or the Cigar Galaxy). Messier 82 (M82, NGC 3034, or Cigar Galaxy) is a starburst irregular galaxy located 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. They say the spectral and timing characteristics of GRB 231115A, as well as the lack of X-ray and optical observations and gravitational wave signals several hours after the event, indicate that this outburst was the result of a giant flare from a magnetar. Suggests. They conclude that starburst galaxies like Messier 82, which are known to produce magnetars, could be promising targets for studying giant flares.

On November 15, 2023, Integral detected a burst of gamma rays that lasted just one-tenth of a second. The detection was sent to the Integral Science Data Center, where software determined it came from the nearby galaxy Messier 82. A small square on Integral's map indicates the location of the burst. Blue circles on the two cropped images indicate corresponding locations. Image credit: ESA / Integral / XMM-Newton / INAF / TNG / M. Rigoselli, INAF.

Giant flares are short explosive events that release very large amounts of energy as gamma-ray bursts (GRBs).

Only three such flares have been observed from magnetars in our Milky Way galaxy and the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud in the past roughly 50 years.

Observations of giant flares from distant magnetars are hampered by the fact that at long distances it is difficult to identify the source of the energy burst.

“Some young neutron stars have very strong magnetic fields, more than 10,000 times stronger than a typical neutron star. These are called magnetars. They emit energy as flares, and sometimes these flares can be huge,” said ESA astronomer Dr. Ashley Climes.

“However, in the past 50 years of gamma-ray observations, huge flares from our galaxy's magnetars have only been observed three times.”

“These explosions are extremely powerful. The explosion detected in December 2004 came from 30,000 light-years away from us, but was still powerful enough to affect the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere. It's like a solar flare coming from much closer to us.

“The flare detected by Integral is the first confirmation of the existence of a magnetar outside the Milky Way,” said Dr. Sandro Meleghetti, an astronomer at the National Institute of Astrophysics.

“We suspect that some of the other 'short gamma-ray bursts' revealed by Integral and other satellites are also giant flares from magnetars.”

“This discovery will begin the search for other extragalactic magnetars. If we can find more stars, we will be able to understand how often these flares occur and how the stars lose energy in the process. We can begin to understand that,” Dr. Cromes said.

“However, such short-lived explosions can only be caught by chance if the observatory is already pointing in the right direction,” said Dr. Jan-Uwe Ness, a scientist at the Integral project.

“This makes Integral, with its wide field of view more than 3,000 times the area of ​​the sky covered by the Moon, extremely important for these detections.”

“Messier 82 is a bright galaxy in which star formation occurs,” the authors said.

“In these regions, massive stars are born, live short, turbulent lives, and leave behind neutron stars.”

“The discovery of magnetars in this region confirms that magnetars are likely young neutron stars.”

“The search for additional magnetars will continue in other star-forming regions to understand these extraordinary objects.”

of findings It was published in the magazine Nature.

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S. Meleghetti other. A giant magnetar flare in the nearby starburst galaxy M82. Nature, published online March 7, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07285-4

Source: www.sci.news

NASA captures starscape as Sun releases powerful X2.8 flare

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NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of a solar flare on December 14 (as seen by the bright flash in the top right).

This image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the very hot material within the flare, color-coded teal. Credit: NASA/SDO

NASA observed a significant X2.8 solar flare on December 14, 2023, with potential impacts on Earth’s technological systems. NOAASpace Weather Forecast Center.

The sun emitted a strong solar flare, reaching its peak at 12:02 p.m. EST, December 14, 2023. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which constantly monitors the Sun, captured images of the event.

A solar flare is a powerful explosion of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can affect radio communications, power grids, and navigation signals, posing a danger to spacecraft and astronauts.

This flare is classified as an X2.8 flare. The X class indicates the most powerful flare, and the numbers provide more information about its strength.

Solar flares like this one, captured by NASA satellites orbiting the sun, emit large amounts of radiation. Credit: NASA

Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation emitted from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots. These are among the most powerful phenomena in the solar system and can have significant effects on Earth’s space environment.

These flares are classified according to their intensity. The classification is as follows.
X class flare: The most intense flare. They can cause global radio interference and long-term radiation storms that can affect satellites and astronauts. X-class flares are further classified by number, with higher numbers indicating more powerful flares. For example, an X2 flare is twice as strong as an X1 flare and four times as strong as an X0.5 flare.
M class flare: Medium intensity flare. In polar regions, it can cause short-term radio interference and small radiation storms. While not as powerful as an X-class flare, they can still have a noticeable impact on Earth’s space weather.
C class flare: These are small flares that have little noticeable impact on Earth. These are more common than M-class and X-class flares, but are usually too weak to significantly affect space weather.
B class and A class flares: These are even smaller flares and are often undetectable without specialized solar observation equipment. They have minimal, if any, impact on the planet.

This classification is based on the peak luminous flux (number of photons) in watts per square meter measured in Earth’s orbit by the GOES spacecraft. This system allows you to quickly and easily communicate the strength of solar flares and their potential impact on space weather and Earth.

Artist’s concept for the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a pivotal mission in the study of the Sun, playing a key role in understanding our closest star. Launched on February 11, 2010, SDO is specifically designed to observe and understand solar activity that influences weather on Earth and in space.

The primary goal of SDO is to better understand the Sun’s influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere simultaneously at small space and time scales and at many wavelengths. This is very important for understanding the influence of the Sun on the Earth, especially the magnetic field and the space environment.

The SDO is equipped with a range of advanced equipment. The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) acquires high-resolution images of the solar atmosphere, the Solar Seismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) studies the solar magnetic field and the dynamic motion of the Sun’s interior, and the Extreme Ultraviolet Fluctuations Experiment (EVE) studies the solar magnetic field. Measure. UV output.

One of SDO’s most important contributions is its ability to continuously observe the Sun in detail at multiple wavelengths. These observations provide a comprehensive view of solar activity, including flares, coronal mass ejections, and changes in the solar magnetic field. Data from SDO has helped advance our understanding of the Sun’s complex and dynamic magnetic field, its energy output, and how these factors interact to drive space weather.

In summary, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory is a key asset in solar science, providing valuable data that helps scientists better understand the behavior of the Sun and its effects on space weather and Earth.


Source: scitechdaily.com