• Question: What's the brightest thing in the universe?

    Asked by obiwankenobi to Aled, Ellie, Fiona, Kev, Willem on 11 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Aled Roberts

      Aled Roberts answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      Hey Obiwankenobi!

      The brightest thing in the universe would be light – well non-visible light to be precise, and gamma radiation to be even more precise! These bursts of energy might only last a fraction of a second (however it can be longer) but are much more powerful all the light that has ever been emitted from our sun!

      Hope this answers your question!

    • Photo: Willem Heijltjes

      Willem Heijltjes answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      Hi Obiwan!

      If by “thing” you mean “macroscopic object” (or “big thing” 😉 ) then it is a star called “R136a1”. It is 265 times heavier than the sun, and almost 9 MILLION times brighter!

      Here is the list where I found it:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_luminous_stars

      A gamma ray burst, or a supernova, can be brighter still. But for me, these fall under “explosions”, not “things” 😉

Comments