Not a supernova, but a black hole

Our ideas about the object, marked in the astronomical catalogs as ASASSN-15lh, have changed. At the time of its discovery, it was considered the brightest observed supernova, but in fact this is not at all the case. According to the researchers, we are actually dealing with a star that was torn apart by a supermassive black hole.

As a rule, after the explosion, supernovae expand and their temperature drops, while ASASSN-15lh warmed up even more in the meantime. It is also worth noting that the star was located near the center of the galaxy, and we know that supermassive black holes can also be found in the centers of galaxies.

Astronomers were convinced that the object was not a massive star that collapsed due to lack of fuel, but a smaller star that was torn apart by a black hole. Such a phenomenon has only been recorded ten times so far. According to the team of astronomers, one cannot be 100% sure that this is the fate of ASASSN-15lh, but so far all the premises point to this.