Within the vast expanse of the cosmos, astronomers have stumbled upon an explosion of astronomical proportions. Identified as AT2021lwx, this cosmic fireball has released an unprecedented amount of energy, perplexing scientists worldwide.
 InShort:
The cosmic explosion, AT2021lwx, has been termed the largest ever witnessed, dwarfing even our Solar System in size. Detected three years ago, it has baffled astronomers with its brilliance, exceeding that of two trillion suns. While various theories have been proposed, including an exploding star or a tidal disruption event, none have conclusively explained this phenomenon. The prevailing hypothesis suggests a supermassive black hole consuming an enormous gas cloud, but the missing galaxy around the explosion remains an enigma.
The Accidental Discovery of an Unparalleled Cosmic Explosion
In 2020, the Zwicky Transient Facility in California, conducting a routine sweep of the skies, first detected a peculiar flash, AT2021lwx. However, the true significance of this explosion was only understood the following year when astronomers like Philip Wiseman from Britain’s University of Southampton scrutinized it using more powerful telescopes. It was soon clear that they were observing an event unlike any other.
The Search for an Explanation
The sheer scale of the explosion has challenged established theories. Initially, astronomers considered it might be an extraordinary supernova, a dying star bursting with light. However, AT2021lwx’s brightness exceeds even the most luminous supernovas. Another possibility was a tidal disruption event, where a star is torn apart by a supermassive black hole, but AT2021lwx outshines these occurrences too. The closest comparable event is a quasar, but the constant brightness of AT2021lwx contradicts the flickering nature of quasars.
A Black Hole and a Missing Galaxy
The leading theory, as detailed in the study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, suggests that a supermassive black hole is slowly consuming a colossal gas cloud. However, this theory doesn’t explain the lack of a detectable galaxy in the vicinity of the explosion, a mystery that continues to puzzle the scientific community.
Source: https://phys.org/
Research Scopes:
The discovery of AT2021lwx has opened up vast avenues of research. Further observations and simulations may aid in understanding this massive cosmic explosion and its intriguing absence of a surrounding galaxy. Future exploration could also focus on identifying similar events in the cosmos, potentially shedding light on the unknown aspects of our universe.