It’s always SMBs
Astronomers have spotted what seems to be a supermassive black hole devouring a huge gas cloud — and in the media it's being claimed as the Biggest Explosion in the History of Explosions. Except, is it though? And didn't we already talk about this, way back in Episode 61? And anyway, what does "biggest" even mean? Or "explosion", for that matter? Or "time"? It's all very confusing. Emily's here to make sense of it all.
Syzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.
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Things we discuss in this episode:
The research paper
A good article about the research
The OG Episode 61: Biggest Bang Eva!
Energy units, including ergs and joules
The Gamma Ray Burst of 2022
Vale D Alexander Kann