The man might have been able to read, write, undertake scientific discoveries and even develop more than what is required for minimalistic living. But, what it has certainly not been able to do is understand the universe. Regardless of the fact that we’ve traveled to quite many places in the lonely cosmos, there is little that we know about it and the little as well have been due to the contribution of a handful of scientific pioneers. The American astrophysicist, author and science communicator, Neil DeGrasse Tyson has correctly said, ‘The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.’ And no matter how many theories or scientific evidence we come up with, there will always be something that we fail to understand about the universe. Mysterious isn’t it!
Therefore, even the slightest hint of activity in the cosmos excites our being and drives our thirst for scientific hunger. One such incident happened recently where astronomers spotted an explosion happening in the universe. Upon analysis, it turned out to be the biggest till date explosion in the universe.
Where did it happen?
Dwarfing all the others, the Brobdingnagian explosion occurred in a distant galaxy that lies around 390 million lightyears away from our planet Earth. Tearing the galaxy cluster of Ophiuchus apart, the eruption was as many as five times more than its previous record holder. The last biggest explosion was caused in the cluster MS 0735.6+7421. The energy released by the explosion was hundreds and thousands of times magnified as compared to the average explosion observed in the universe.
One of the lead scientists studying the explosion, Simona Giacintucci, of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C pointed out that the explosion in the Ophiuchus galaxy was similar to how Mt. St Helens erupted in the 1980s and shattered the top of the mountain.
What caused it?
Scientists think the explosion was caused by a black hole that sat in the heart of the galaxy cluster Ophiuchus. Popularly the black holes are known for sucking up all that comes close to them, but scientific evidence shows that they expel substance as well. The explosion was marked by jets of radiation and material spouting from the dense gravitational giant, the next event of which turns out a humongous inflow of dust and gas.
Even though explosions keep on happening in the universe in different varieties and forms, the ones by the black holes are the most massive. And out of the many, scientists and astrophysicists find light, particle, and gravitational waves as the major comparators of these explosions. As a comparison, supernovas release upto 1044 Joules of energy, which is basically the Sun’s entire lifetime output. Meanwhile, the biggest explosion to date is estimated to have released as much as 5 times 1054 Joules of energy. I’ll leave you to guess it’s immensity!
