Explosions of stars in the universe are usually spherical in shape, as the stars themselves are round. Nevertheless, this explosion, which occurred 180 million light-years away, is the most aspherical ever seen in space, with a shape like a disc emerging a few days after it was found. This area of the explosion might have come from material shed by the star simply before it exploded.
Its still uncertain how brilliant FBOT surges occur, but its hoped that this observation, published recently in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, will bring us closer to understanding them.
Dr. Justyn Maund, Lead Author of the research study from the University of Sheffields Department of Physics and Astronomy, stated: “Very little is learnt about FBOT surges– they just dont act like taking off stars should, they are too bright and they progress too rapidly. Simply put, they are unusual, and this brand-new observation makes them even weirder.
” Hopefully this new finding will assist us shed a bit more light on them– we never believed that surges could be this aspherical. There are a couple of prospective explanations for it: the stars involved may have produced a disc right before they passed away or these could be failed supernovas, where the core of the star collapses into a great void or neutron star which then consumes the rest of the star.
” What we now know for sure is that the levels of asymmetry recorded are an essential part of comprehending these strange surges, and it challenges our preconceptions of how stars might blow up in the Universe.”
Researchers made the discovery after spotting a flash of polarized light totally by opportunity. They were able to measure the polarization of the blast– utilizing the astronomical equivalent of polaroid sunglasses– with the Liverpool Telescope (owned by Liverpool John Moores University) located on La Palma.
By determining the polarisation, it allowed them to determine the shape of the explosion, efficiently seeing something the size of our Solar System but in a galaxy 180 million light years away. They were then able to utilize the information to reconstruct the 3D shape of the explosion, and were able to map the edges of the blast– allowing them to see just how flat it was..
The mirror of the Liverpool Telescope is just 2.0 m in size, however by studying the polarization the astronomers were able to reconstruct the shape of the explosion as if the telescope had a diameter of about 750km.
Scientists will now undertake a brand-new study with the global Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile, which is anticipated to help find more FBOTs and even more comprehend them.
Referral: “A flash of polarized optical light indicate an aspherical cow” by Justyn R Maund, Peter A Höflich, Iain A Steele, Yi Yang, Klaas Wiersema, Shiho Kobayashi, Nuria Jordana-Mitjans, Carole Mundell, Andreja Gomboc, Cristiano Guidorzi and Robert J Smith, 21 February 2023, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.DOI: 10.1093/ mnras/stad539.
Slim Boom. Credit: Phil Drury, University of Sheffield
Astronomers have observed a surge 180 million light-years away that challenges our existing understanding of cosmic surges, displaying a considerably flatter appearance than formerly believed possible
Astronomers have observed an explosion 180 million light years away which challenges our current understanding of surges in space, that appeared much flatter than ever believed possible.
Explosions are often anticipated to be spherical, as the stars themselves are spherical, however this one is the flattest ever seen
The surge observed was an exceptionally rare Fast Blue Optical Transient (FBOT)– known informally amongst astronomers as “the cow”– just four others have ever been seen, and researchers dont know how they take place, but this discovery has actually helped fix part of the puzzle
A prospective description for how this surge happened is that the star itself might have been surrounded by a thick disk or it may have been a failed supernova
An explosion the size of our planetary system has actually baffled researchers, as part of its shape– comparable to that of an extremely flat disc– obstacles whatever we understand about explosions in area.
The surge observed was an intense Fast Blue Optical Transient (FBOT)– an exceptionally uncommon class of explosion that is much less typical than other surges, such as supernovas. The very first brilliant FBOT was discovered in 2018 and offered the label “the cow.”