Largest Explosion since the Big Bang
Supermassive Black Hole eats a Star some 3-to-10 times the Sun’s Mass -- did anyone else experience?
Quick Update: Sunday June 8th, 5-6pm CST: Discover the Wild Heart of the Lower Mississippi River. Held in conjunction with One Mississippi’s River Days of Action and World Ocean Day, this event highlights the vital connection between river health and ocean health—and our shared responsibility to protect both. See below for complete details. Stay tuned: Monday June 9th is the first day of WBUR's Here & Now week-long series featuring the Mississippi River. (I think we're part of the opening episode). Also: shout out to my long-time mentor and hometown teacher & friend, Mountain Guerrilla Rick Doc Posner, live "Comfort Table" broadcast today, this afternoon 2-5pm MST, on The Goat, Clear Creek Radio.
Lower Mississippi River Dispatch No. 980 "Voice of the Lower Mississippi River"
A Super Massive Black Hole Consumed a Star 3-10 Times the Size of our Sun
Was anyone awake in the wee-wee hours (for me, some time around 4:23am CST) on Wed Wed 4th? Did you see the brilliant flaring high in the sky? We were camped for the 2nd week of our annual summer canoe camp, on remote big river sandbar island, surrounded by deep woods on either shore, in the 2nd order darkness of the Lower Mississippi River. If you were awake like I was, did you experience a bright flare-up almost directly overhead that lasted maybe 5 seconds? So bright it lit up the sky and the land around? For me it lit up the sandbar we were camped on like the full moon does, maybe brighter, and then quickly snuffed out!
The flaring brilliance seemed to emanate from an area just to the left of Vega, on the edge of the Milky Way (in the constellation Lyra, slightly SW from the roof of the heavens). In between Lyra and Hercules. The bright light lasted a mere handful of seconds. I fixed the position in my mind, in relation to the nearest brightest visible object, which was the giant bluish star Vega. Vega (Alpha Lyrae) is the fifth brightest star in the night sky. I had no idea what this was, and asked Mark River about it when he came to camp to start the bacon over campfire. By then morning light flooded the island, the stars long departed. He's also an early riser. But he wasn't up that early. Did anyone else see? None of our summer camp boys had seen, nor camp leader Nick Onyshko. I almost dismissed it as an anomaly, but my mind kept going back, it was so spectacular, and strange, and unexpected.
We had experienced a weird quality of light all that day, June 4th, probably due to the smoke drifting down into the Deep South from Canadian forest fires, and being mixed with the dust storms crossing the Atlantic from the Sahara Desert. The sun (pictured above) descended with increasing yellow-orange intensity, until it hung like a globe of molten reddish orange gold, and then disappeared into the blueish gloomy haze surrounding. Very dramatic. Breath-taking for us artistic types! Since then, I have been wondering what I saw. Was it an exploding satellite? Or a comet? Seems like lots of strange things in the skies these days (and nights). (Starlink flights & satellites being some of the strangeness). And then -- just yesterday morning -- I saw an confirmation and explanation on the Earth & Sky online daily update: "Astronomers in Hawaii said on June 4, 2025, that they’ve detected three different stars being devoured by supermassive black holes that released more energy than 100 supernovas. These are the largest explosions since the Big Bang. And astronomers are calling them extreme nuclear transients, or ENTs." (From Earth & Sky report) For us, it was a clear night, with a gentle breeze from the south keeing us cool in our screen tents. I get up before everyone else, in the pre-dawn light, for some personal writing & sketching time, my favorite time of day. I don't set my alarm, I've always been an early riser. My internal clock gets me going. I feel like I'm going to miss something if I don't!
Nature’s Witnesses
Mighty Quapaw guides -- this is one of our unique qualities not often recognized -- our roles as nature's witnesses. Perhaps our most valuable contribution to the greater good of the world. We see phenomena and expressions of nature that no one else sees. Why? -- simply by the sheer weight of the amount of time we spend over the levee, on the biggest river in North America, in the wildest of the wilds in the Deep South, sometimes 300 days (and 299 nights) a year. We See it. We hear it. We smell it.
More from Earth & Sky:
Astronomers have discovered a new type of cosmic explosion they’re calling an extreme nuclear transient. They happen when a supermassive black hole eats a star some 3-to-10 times the sun’s mass. Scientists said on June 4, 2025, that extreme nuclear transients are the largest explosions since the Big Bang. Largest explosions in the universe since the Big Bang As the name suggests, black holes are so dark that we can’t see them … unless we catch them snacking on a star. And those stars do not go quietly. When a star gets too close to a black hole, the immense gravity shreds the star, releasing an outpouring of light and energy. Astronomers in Hawaii said on June 4, 2025, that they’ve detected three different stars being devoured by supermassive black holes that released more energy than 100 supernovas. These are the largest explosions since the Big Bang. And astronomers are calling them extreme nuclear transients, or ENTs. The stars responsible for the extreme nuclear transients are from three to 10 times more massive than our sun. And these aren’t just brilliant but brief flashes. The brightening events last for months to years, helping astronomers see an otherwise hidden part of our universe.
All Night Star-Gazer June 25th
Want to experience the magic of the summer sky? On select mid-summer months we will offer all-night paddles during the new moon, for experience of the heavens. More details forthcoming. Wed, June 25th, New Moon All-Nighter Star Gazer, paddle all night sunset to sunrise, chasing the Milky Way across the face of the big river with the Mighty Quapaws and Delta Astrophotography Walt Busby.
“Discover the Wild Heart of the Lower Mississippi River!” Sun June 8th:
River Days of Action 2025:
WBUR Here & Now ~ Mississippi River Special Series ~ Next Week, June 9th - 13th
~ Quapaw Canoe Company ~ Celebrating 27 Years of Service ~ ~Custom Guiding & Outfitting on the Lower Mississippi River~ ~ Winner of the SBA 2024 Small Business of the Year Award ~
Probably too much sunlight in the sky -- in your northerly latitudes also!
Hey John,
I didn't see that up here in Vermont, also because i was sleeping. Coincidentally, when i saw your post I had just finished reading this article about the Big bang, which you may find interesting.
https://www.sciencealert.com/big-bang-may-not-be-the-beginning-of-everything-new-theory-suggests