Astronomers have spotted the largest and most distant flare ever observed from a supermassive black hole. Nicknamed "Superman," the flare originated 10 billion light-years from Earth, and at its peak, the light emitted shone with the brightness of 10 trillion suns.

The source of the flare is an active galactic nucleus, or AGN — a bright, compact region at the center of a galaxy — and it's powered by a supermassive black hole that is actively feeding on material. Gas and dust fall into a rotating disk around the black hole, and as the debris spirals more rapidly, it becomes superheated, releasing intense radiation. Advertisement

Researchers pondered what the gargantuan black hole consumed to release such a powerful flare. They concluded it likely gobbled up a massive star that would have

See Full Page