J0529-4351, characterized with ESO's Very Large Telescope in a study published in February 2024, shines about 500 trillion times brighter than the Sun, making it the most luminous object known. Its roughly 17-billion-solar-mass black hole is swallowing the equivalent of about one Sun per day, and its light has travelled over 12 billion years to reach Earth; it had been in sky-survey images since 1980 but was misclassified as a star.
The question, scope, and sources behind this Registry record.
J0529-4351, characterized with ESO's Very Large Telescope in a study published in February 2024, shines about 500 trillion times brighter than the Sun, making it the most luminous object known. Its roughly 17-billion-solar-mass black hole is swallowing the equivalent of about one Sun per day, and its light has travelled over 12 billion years to reach Earth; it had been in sky-survey images since 1980 but was misclassified as a star.
The highest intrinsic luminosity measured for any known quasar (actively accreting supermassive black hole).
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Current frontiers derived from accepted Claims.
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The frontier as it changed over time.
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1 accepted Claim, with 1 linked evidence records.
Permanent ID limitsregistry.com/limits/LR-BRIGHTEST-KNOWN-QUASAR
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Limits Registry. LR-BRIGHTEST-KNOWN-QUASAR. Brightest known quasar. 2026.