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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Science
Tory Shepherd

Astronomers discover universe’s brightest object – a quasar powered by a black hole that eats a sun a day

Sun Quasar Black Hole Christian Wolf Earth Australian National University ESO
An artist's impression of the record-breaking quasar
An artist’s impression of the brightest object ever discovered – a quasar powered by a black hole that Australian National University scientists first spotted using a 2.3m telescope. Photograph: ESO/M. Kornmesser/EPA

The brightest known object in the universe, a quasar 500tn times brighter than our sun, was “hiding in plain sight”, researchers say.

Australian scientists spotted a quasar powered by the fastest growing black hole ever discovered. Its mass is about 17bn times that of our solar system’s sun, and it devours the equivalent of a sun a day.

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