Last 2018, a bizarre cosmic object known as "the Cow" was detected. It is considered the flattest explosion in space ever observed and is the first example of a phenomenon known as FBOT (fast blue optical transient).
The Cow: Flattest Explosion in Space
As per Live Science, this strange explosion has become even more peculiar. A recent analysis of this object showed that its blast is the most asymmetrical one that astronomers have ever observed.
Phys reports that solar explosions across the universe typically have a spherical shape. However, the Cow explosion, which took place 180 million light years away from earth, is the most aspherical explosion that astronomers have ever observed in space. It also has a disk that seemingly emerged just a few days after its discovery. Such an explosive section could have come from the star-shedded material prior to its explosion.
As mentioned earlier, the Cow is an FBOT, which are extremely rare explosion classes that are significantly less common compared to others. While there is still confusion surrounding how FBOT events take place, scientists are hoping that this observation will add to our current understanding of such cosmic rarities. The findings were published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
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Mysterious FBOTs
Justyn Maund, the study's lead author and an astrophysics senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield, notes that such a discovery shows how these blasts are not spherically symmetric. He adds that any models that want to shed more light on FBOTs need to face the reality that these events are not round.
Scientists were quite puzzled by FBOTs like the Cow. Ever since the Cow's discovery, there have been only four other similar cosmic objects that have been observed. Because of this, there is minimal data surrounding FBOTs and their cause.
However, what's clear is that these FBOTs do not have the same behaviors as the usual supernovas, which are the most prevalent space explosions. Typical supernovas usually take place when huge stars collapse under their own gravity and have their nuclear fuel emptied out.
Maund says that FBOTs are exceptionally bright, even brighter than supernovas. However, these objects spontaneously appear, and their brightness "drops like a stone." In contrast to typical supernovae, no radioactive elements power the brightness. Hence, its power must have a different source.
For this research, the scientists examined the Cow's light and looked specifically at its polarization. Though FBOT origins are not revealed through analysis of these cosmic objects, the flatness of the Cow just shows how FBOTs are even more different from supernovae than previously thought.
The astronomers now plan to find even more FBOTs to see if other polarizations and pancake-like shapes are like that of the Cow's. They will gather data through the Legacy Survey of Space and Time that will be held at the Chilean Vera Rubin Observatory.
By getting a deeper look into the cow, the researchers are hopeful that this will shed more light on these powerful and rare events.
As for FBOT causes, Maund has some ideas. For one, these may be caused by star disruption that passes through a black hole or a failed supernova. This, in turn, did not cause a blast but rather collapsed into a neutron star or black hole that started eating up the insides. Maund notes that this could be powering the visible FBOT.
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