Fast blue optical transient
In astronomy, a fast blue optical transient (FBOT) is a transient bright pulse lasting a very short time, caused by some very high-energy astrophysical process not yet understood. There have been a few FBOTs reported, the most famous being SN 2018cow (the "Cow" or AT2018cow) and, in March 2020, the ZTF18abvkwla (the "Koala").[1][2][3][4][5][6] More recently, in May 2020, a much more powerful FBOT (CRTS-CSS161010 J045834-081803, or CSS161010 for short) was reported.[7][8][9][10] In March 2021 a new FBOT was reported using the Zwicky Transient Facility designed AT2020xnd and dubbed the "Camel"[11][12]

According to Deanne Coppejans, first author of the CSS161010 study, "This was unexpected ... We know of energetic explosions that can eject material at almost the speed of light, specifically gamma ray bursts, but they only launch a small amount of mass – about 1 millionth the mass of the sun. CSS161010 launched 1 to 10 percent the mass of the sun at more than half the speed of light – evidence that this is a new class of transient."[9]
See also
References
- Ho, Anna Y.Q.; et al. (2 March 2020). "The Koala: A Fast Blue Optical Transient with Luminous Radio Emission from a Starburst Dwarf Galaxy at z=0.27". The Astrophysical Journal. 895 (1): 49. arXiv:2003.01222. Bibcode:2020ApJ...895...49H. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab8bcf. S2CID 211817823.
- Ho, Anna Y.Q.; et al. (26 May 2020). "The Koala: A Fast Blue Optical Transient with Luminous Radio Emission from a Starburst Dwarf Galaxy at z = 0.27". The Astrophysical Journal. 895 (1): 49. arXiv:2003.01222. Bibcode:2020ApJ...895...49H. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab8bcf. S2CID 211817823.
- Jacobsn-Galan, Wynn (20 April 2020). "A Fast, Blue 'Koala' Shines Bright in a Distant Galaxy". AstroBites. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- Staff (26 May 2020). "The 'Cow' Mystery Strikes Back: Two More Rare, Explosive Events Captured". Keck Observatory. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory (27 May 2020). "Strange New Class of Cosmic Explosions Discovered by Astronomers". National Radio Astronomy Observatory. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- Irving, Michael (26 May 2020). "'Cow' and 'Koala' lead explosive new class of space signals". NewAtlas.com. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- Copperjans, D.L.; et al. (26 May 2020). "A Mildly Relativistic Outflow from the Energetic, Fast-rising Blue Optical Transient CSS161010 in a Dwarf Galaxy". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 895 (1): L23. arXiv:2003.10503. Bibcode:2020ApJ...895L..23C. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ab8cc7. S2CID 214623364.
- Morris, Amanda (26 May 2020). "Astrophysicists capture new class of transient objects". Phys.org. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- Strickland, Ashley (26 May 2020). "Astronomers spot blue 'beast' of an explosion in the universe". CNN News. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- Northwestern University (26 May 2020). "Astrophysicists capture new class of transient objects – 'A new beast is out there,' researcher says of object found in tiny galaxy". Northwestern University. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- O'Callaghan, Jonathan (10 March 2021). "New Kind of Space Explosion Reveals the Birth of a Black Hole". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- Perley, Daniel A; Ho, Anna Y Q; Yao, Yuhan; Fremling, Christoffer; Anderson, Joseph P; Schulze, Steve; Kumar, Harsh; Anupama, G C; Barway, Sudhanshu; Bellm, Eric C; Bhalerao, Varun (9 October 2021). "Real-time discovery of AT2020xnd: A Fast, Luminous Ultraviolet Transient with minimal radioactive ejecta". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: stab2785. arXiv:2103.01968. doi:10.1093/mnras/stab2785. ISSN 0035-8711.

