'It's so much of an outlier; its characteristics are terrifying!'
They used big data and AI software to analyze massive amounts of sky survey data in order to pinpoint the event, which was first observed in 2020. Though it's extremely bright, the transient is also extremely far away, which accounts for the fact it was not noticed before by astronomers.
According to the researchers, Scary Barbie is orders of magnitude brighter and more energetic than any transient ever observed. Not only that, but it is also lasting a lot longer than the typical transient — most last weeks or months, but Scary Barbie has so far lasted over two years. Interestingly, the scientists behind the discovery believe the event itself lasted a much shorter time. We have likely been able to see it for over two years due to the law of relativity, which slows down light as it travels across space, making it seem like it lasts for a longer time.
"We think a very supermassive black hole pulled in a star and ripped it apart,” Subrayan explained. "The forces around a black hole, called tidal disruption, pull other objects apart in a process called 'spaghettification.' We think that's what happened but on extreme time scales: The most massive of black holes ripping apart a massive star. The duration is unlike anything we've ever seen before, and it produced the most luminous transient in the universe.
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