Indian Astronomers have reported one of the strongest flares from a feeding supermassive black hole or blazar called BL Lacertae.
- Analysis of the flare from this blazar, one of the oldest astronomical objects, can help trace the mass of the black hole and the source of this emission.
- Blazars or feeding supermassive black holes in the heart of distant galaxies receive a lot of attention from the astronomical community because of their complicated emission mechanism. They emitjets ofcharged particles traveling nearly at the speed of light and are one of the most luminous and energetic objects in the Universe.
- BL Lacertae blazar is 10 million light-years away and is among the 50 most prominent blazars that can be observed with the help of a relatively small telescope.
- It was among the 3 to 4 blazars that was predicted to be experiencing flares by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT), an international consortium of astronomers.
