An explosion that left a dent in a galaxy
Astronomers have detected what might be the biggest explosion in the universe since the Big Bang—a colossal blast that blew a hole the size of 15 Milky Ways in the surrounding space. The explosion happened a few hundred million years ago in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster, 390 light-years from Earth. Such clusters contain thousands of galaxies intermingled with hot gas and dark matter. Near the heart of the Ophiuchus cluster is a large galaxy with a supermassive black hole. Although black holes are known for sucking in matter, they can also push out phenomenal amounts of material, reports CBSNews.com. In this case, researchers believe the black hole shot out a jet of material at close to the speed of light, which then hit something in space and exploded, releasing five times more energy than any previously known blast. Signs of the explosion were first detected in 2016 by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which spotted an unusual curved edge in the cluster’s hot gas— possibly part of a cavity formed by a blast. Using X-ray and radio telescopes, a new team of scientists has now determined that the curved edge is indeed the boundary of an enormous blast cavity. “This has been like discovering a dinosaur,” say study co-authors Simona Giacintucci and Maxim Markevitch, “with just a little piece (the unusual X-ray edge) sticking out at first and then suddenly a new kind of creature coming out from the ground.”