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Judi Lynn

(162,493 posts)
Sat Oct 7, 2023, 03:28 PM Oct 2023

Hubble Telescope just witnessed a massive intergalactic explosion and astronomers can't explain it

Last edited Sun Oct 8, 2023, 10:36 AM - Edit history (1)

By Keith Cooper published 1 day ago

The leading theories involve stars being ripped apart by black holes or the merger of neutron stars.



An artist's impression of the LFBOT exploding in the space between galaxies. (Image credit: NASA/ESA/NSF's NOIRLab/M. Garlick/M. Zamani)

A mysterious cosmic explosion created a brilliant flash of light in the space between two galaxies over 3 billion light-years away.

The optical flash, which was one of the brightest bursts of blue light in the universe but lasted only a few days, is the latest example of a rare breed of brief astronomical event called a luminous fast blue optical transient (LFBOT).

LFBOTs are a complete mystery. The first one to be discovered wasn't observed until 2018. Designated AT2018cow, it was positioned in the spiral arm of its galaxy 200 million light-years away. Nicknamed "the Cow," it was up to 100 times brighter than an ordinary supernova, and was also bright in radio waves, ultraviolet and X-rays. If it was a supernova, it behaved very oddly. Usually, a supernova stays bright for weeks, or even months, and has a recognizable spectrum. Yet the Cow faded after a few days.

Similar bursts of light are discovered at a rate of about one per year, and they are nicknamed after animals based on the last three letters in their designation. Other LFBOTs have been dubbed the Camel, the Koala and the Tasmanian Devil. This latest LFBOT, detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar Observatory in California on April 10, is designated AT2023fhn and, consequently, has been nicknamed "the Finch."

More:
https://www.space.com/intergalactic-space-explosion-lfbot

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Hubble Telescope just witnessed a massive intergalactic explosion and astronomers can't explain it (Original Post) Judi Lynn Oct 2023 OP
This is why Science is so illuminating PJMcK Oct 2023 #1
Astronomy, along with all science, is just amazing. PoindexterOglethorpe Oct 2023 #2

PJMcK

(22,969 posts)
1. This is why Science is so illuminating
Sat Oct 7, 2023, 05:25 PM
Oct 2023

There are new observations and questions all the time! The universe is full of secrets and Science uncovers them one tiny petal at a time.

Remarkable!

PoindexterOglethorpe

(26,773 posts)
2. Astronomy, along with all science, is just amazing.
Sat Oct 7, 2023, 09:01 PM
Oct 2023

I'm going to have to ask My Son The Astronomer about this.

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