Astronomers have detected one of the largest cosmic explosions. The announcement came from Dr. Phillip Wiseman who led the observations. The observations were conducted by Southampton University. The cause of the explosion is thought to be the result of gas being sucked into a supermassive black hole. Space is a strange and exciting place with new objects to be discovered. The size of the explosion was about 100 times the Solar System. The explosion has been given an official name. Astronomers refer to it as AT2021lwx. The light that comes from the explosion allows astronomers on Earth to detect it. AT2021lwx is still emitting energy. The event could either be the product of a supernova or tidal disruption event. This refers to when a star gets too close to a black hole and gets damaged in the process. Technically, AT2021lwx was detected in 2020 by the Zwicky Transient Facility. However, astronomers needed to collect more data for confirmation. Calculating the brightness required knowing the distance. The distance was determined to be 8 billion light years away. The fact that AT2021lwx is so bright for this long only adds to the mystery. A supernova or tidal disruption event's brightness only lasts a few months. It is unknown when AT202llwx will fade away. Over the next few years astronomers are going to find more cosmic explosions. Examining these occurrences might provide more information on the attributes of black holes.
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