[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” background_image=”https:\/\/www.ieec.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/slider-comunicacio.jpg” max_height=”130px” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”24px||11px|||” da_disable_devices=”off|off|off” global_colors_info=”{}” da_is_popup=”off” da_exit_intent=”off” da_has_close=”on” da_alt_close=”off” da_dark_close=”off” da_not_modal=”on” da_is_singular=”off” da_with_loader=”off” da_has_shadow=”on”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Unitats de recerca” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|700||on|||||” text_font_size=”16px” header_font=”|700|||||||” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” header_font_size_tablet=”28px” header_font_size_phone=”26px” header_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoiY3VzdG9tX21ldGFfb3JnYW5pemFjaW9uZXMiLCJzZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJiZWZvcmUiOiIiLCJhZnRlciI6IiIsImVuYWJsZV9odG1sIjoib2ZmIn19@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_title author=”off” categories=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”off” admin_label=”T\u00edtol i data” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” title_font=”Cairo|300|||||||” title_font_size=”40px” meta_font=”||on||||||” meta_font_size=”16px” title_font_size_tablet=”35px” title_font_size_phone=”30px” title_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_text admin_label=”Subt\u00edtols” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Source Sans Pro||on||||||” text_font_size=”24px” text_line_height=”1.1em” text_font_size_tablet=”22px” text_font_size_phone=”20px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_post_title title=”off” meta=”off” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” border_width_top=”10px” border_color_top=”#406fda” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”15px” text_line_height=”1.1em” background_color=”rgba(64,111,218,0.15)” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”30px|20px|30px|20px|true|true” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Caption:<\/strong> Artist’s concept of one of the brightest explosions ever seen in space: a Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT). <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” link_font=”|700|||on||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n An active stellar corpse, caused by a distant star\u2019s explosive death, was the likely source of repeated energetic flares observed over several months. Such a phenomenon had never been seen before and a team led by <\/span>University of Cornell<\/span><\/a>, including researchers from the <\/span>Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia<\/span><\/a> (IEEC \u2014 Institut d\u2019Estudis Espacials de Catalunya) at the <\/span>Institute of Space Sciences<\/span><\/a> (ICE-CSIC), reports it in a new research published today in <\/span>Nature<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n The bright, brief flashes \u2013as short as a few minutes in duration, and as powerful as the original explosion 100 days later\u2013 appeared in the aftermath of a rare type of stellar cataclysm that the researchers had set out to find, known as a <\/span>luminous fast blue optical transient<\/b>, or LFBOT. It has been officially labelled AT2022tsd and nicknamed \u2018the Tasmanian devil\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n Since their discovery in 2018, astronomers have speculated about what might drive such extreme explosions, which are far brighter than the violent ends massive stars typically experience, but fade in days instead of weeks. The research team believes the previously unknown flare activity, which was studied by 15 telescopes around the world, confirms the engine must be a stellar corpse: a black hole or neutron star.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” link_font=”|700|||on||||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Llu\u00eds Galbany<\/b>, <\/span>Claudia Guti\u00e9rrez<\/b> and <\/span>Tom\u00e1s E. M\u00fcller-Bravo<\/b>, IEEC researchers at the ICE-CSIC, contributed to the study as part of the <\/span>ePESSTO+<\/span><\/a> (extended Public ESO Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects). The collaboration started in 2019 and focuses on exploring new transient populations.<\/span><\/p>\n Anna Y. Q. Ho<\/b>, assistant professor of astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences, is the first author of the study and helped characterise the \u2018Tasmanian devil\u2019 and the ensuing pulses of light seen roughly a billion light years from Earth. \u201cWe don\u2019t think anything else can make these kinds of flares. This <\/span>settles years of debate about what powers this type of explosion, and reveals an unusually direct method of studying the activity of stellar corpses,<\/span>\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n She wrote the software that flagged the event in September 2022, while sifting through a half-million changes, or transients, detected daily in an all-sky survey conducted by the California-based Zwicky Transient Facility. While routinely monitoring the fading explosion in December 2022, the team of researchers found that one of the analysed images picked up light, followed by an intensely bright spike<\/strong> in the middle frame that quickly vanished.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo one really knew what to say,\u201d Ho recalled. \u201cWe had never seen anything like that before\u2014something so fast, and the brightness as strong as the original explosion months later\u2014in any supernova or FBOT. We\u2019d never seen that, period, in astronomy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFinding and characterising LFBOTs is challenging due to their nature: they are objects that evolve very quickly. We lose important information about their explosion mechanisms and physics if we wait a few days to coordinate observations. Therefore, we need to trigger observations when you find a good candidate,\u201d explains Claudia Guti\u00e9rrez. \u201cDespite all our efforts, we have detected around a dozen LFBOTS, of which only six provide some clues about this new class of events. Of these, only one, the \u2018Tasmanian devil\u2019, shows these unprecedented flares\u201d, she adds.<\/span><\/p>\n To further investigate the abrupt rebrightening, the researchers engaged partners who contributed observations from more than a dozen other telescopes, including one equipped with a high-speed camera. The team combed through earlier data and worked to rule out other possible light sources. Their analysis ultimately confirmed at least 14 irregular light pulses over a 120-day period, likely only a fraction of the total number, Ho said.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_font=”|700|||||||” header_2_font_size=”25px” header_2_font_size_tablet=”23px” header_2_font_size_phone=”23px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” link_font=”|700|||on||||” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Exactly what processes were at work\u2014perhaps a <\/span>black hole<\/b> funnelling jets of stellar material outward at close to the speed of light\u2014continues to be studied. The team hopes the research advances long-standing goals to map how stars\u2019 properties in life may predict the way they\u2019ll die, and the type of corpse they produce. LFBOTs may present an opportunity to observe a star in the act of transitioning to its afterlife.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs the current sample of LFBOTs remains small, current and forthcoming high-cadence surveys, such as LS4, GOTO and BlackGem, will be essential for increasing their number and helping elucidate the progenitor scenario of this type of transients”, points out Tom\u00e1s E. M\u00fcller-Bravo.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt is a great time to study the transient Universe. Just five years ago it would have been impossible to detect such an event. Our supernova group at ICE-CSIC is putting an extra effort to be part of these international collaborations, and be able to be the first to detect, follow up and study extraordinary events like AT2022tsd\u201d, concludes Llu\u00eds Galbany.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Press release prepared in collaboration with the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC).<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”30px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_divider color=”#406fda” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”M\u00e9s informaci\u00f3” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Cairo|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#406fda” text_font_size=”20px” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n More information<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.1em” link_font=”|700|||on||||” custom_margin=”20px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n This research is presented in a paper entitled \u201cMinutes-duration Optical Flares with Supernova Luminosities<\/a>\u201d, by Anna Y. Q. Ho et al.<\/i>, which appeared in the journal Nature on 15 November 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_divider color=”#406fda” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”Enlla\u00e7os” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Cairo|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#406fda” text_font_size=”20px” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Links<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.1em” link_font=”|700|||on|||#1a1140|” link_text_color=”#1a1140″ link_line_height=”1.4em” custom_margin=”20px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_divider color=”#406fda” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=”Contactes” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Cairo|700|||||||” text_text_color=”#406fda” text_font_size=”20px” custom_margin=”||10px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Contacts<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ admin_label=”Row” _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”|||20px|false|false” border_width_left=”1px” border_color_left=”#406fda” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.1em” link_font=”|700|||on|||#1a1140|” link_text_color=”#1a1140″ link_line_height=”1.4em” header_4_font=”|700|||||||” header_4_text_color=”#1a1140″ custom_margin=”||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Barcelona, Spain [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”|||20px|false|false” border_width_left=”1px” border_color_left=”#406fda” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.8″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1em” link_font=”|700|||on||||” link_text_color=”#1a1140″ header_4_font=”|700|||||||” header_4_text_color=”#1a1140″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n Barcelona, Spain<\/p>\n Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC)
Credits:<\/strong> NASA, ESA, NSF’s NOIRLab, Mark Garlick, Mahdi Zamani.<\/span><\/p>\nExploring the stellar evolution<\/h2>\n
\n
IEEC Communication Office<\/h4>\n
E-mail: comunicacio@ieec.cat<\/a><\/p>\nLead Researchers at the IEEC<\/h4>\n
Llu\u00eds Galbany<\/h4>\n
Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC)
E-mail: lgalbany@ieec.cat<\/span><\/a><\/p>\nClaudia Guti\u00e9rrez<\/h4>\n
Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC)
E-mail: cgutierrez@ieec.cat<\/span><\/a><\/p>\nTom\u00e1s E. M\u00fcller<\/h4>\n
Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC)
E-mail: muller@ieec.cat<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n