Discovery and Characteristics
Scientists identified a new class of cosmic events, named extreme nuclear transients (ENTs), which are the most powerful explosions observed in the universe, surpassing supernovae in intensity.
ENTs occur when massive stars, at least three times the Sun's mass, are torn apart by supermassive black holes, releasing energy up to 100 times that of a supernova annually.
Research and Implications
The discovery arose from analyzing data from the 's telescope, revealing long-lived, unprecedented brightness flares from distant galaxies.
ENTs provide a new avenue for studying massive black holes in distant galaxies, offering insights into black hole growth and galaxy evolution in the early universe.