Scientists have discovered unprecedentedly large explosions in space. The explosions are so large that they form their own category. According to researchers, these are the largest explosions since the Big Bang, which created the universe almost fourteen billion years ago.
The scientists studied the remains of these so-called “extreme nuclear transients” (ENTs). These ENTs occur when heavy stars, at least three times heavier than our sun, are torn apart by black holes. This makes large amounts of energy visible over enormous distances.
When a star explodes, it usually releases the same amount of energy as our sun produces in ten billion years. But ENTs have a hundred times more energy, the scientists write. Their research was published in Science Advances.
“We have seen stars being torn apart before. But these ENTs are on a completely different level. Their brightness is ten times higher than what we normally see, and remains visible for much longer than the supernovae we know,” says research leader Jason Hinkle.