Astronomers have found another supermassive black hole, and this time it’s being called “Scary Barbie”.
It’s being called one of the “most luminous, energetic, long-lasting transient objects” found in the night sky. This just shows no matter how much we know about the sky above us, we are always learning more. Purdue University graduate student, Bhagya Subrayan, said researchers believe the black hole “pulled in a star and ripped it apart”. The black hole was originally called “ZTF20abrbeie”, which eventually led to the nickname “Scary Barbie”.
To help find the object, researchers used the Recommender Engine For Intelligent Transient Tracking engine (REFITT). This artificial intelligence technology looks at alerts to help researchers find interesting things in space.
What’s even more astounding about this object is that researchers still aren’t sure how bright it is – They are calling it the “most energetic phenomenon” they have ever encountered.
“It’s absurd. If you take a typical supernova and multiply it a thousand times, we’re still not at how bright this is – and supernovas are among the most luminous objects in the sky,” said Danny Milisavljevic, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy in Purdue University’s College of Science. “
This just shows how dangerous space can be sometimes. Just be thankful we are safe here on earth, far away from this black hole.
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