Earlier in 2022, astronomers monitored data from the Zwicky Transient Facility sky survey, which is based in Palomar
A signal from space has attracted the attention of astronomersaround the world, including scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Over the next few days, several telescopes focused on the signal to collect more data at multiple wavelengths in the X-ray, ultraviolet, optical and radio wavelengths. The goal is to understand what can produce such a huge amount of light.
Now MIT astronomers have identified a likelysignal source, which was called AT 2022cmc. Most likely, it comes from a relativistic jet of matter escaping from a supermassive black hole at a speed close to the speed of light. Scientists believe that this jet appeared due to the fact that a black hole suddenly began to absorb a nearby star, releasing a huge amount of energy in the process.
This process is known as a tidal eventdestruction or TDE (English tidal disruption events). AT 2022cmc is one of the most distant TDEs ever detected. It is located at a distance of about 8.5 billion light years.
Scientists have understood how such a distant event could be reflected so vividly in our sky. A black hole's jet can point directly at Earth, making the signal appear brighter.
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On the cover: illustration AT 2022cmc. Credit: Carl Knox - OzGrav, ARC Center of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, Swinburne University of Technology