[The LFBOT appeared far between two galaxies – far away from any host galaxy. (Image X: @NASAHubble)]
Washington: NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has detected an extraordinarily bright explosion in empty space leaving the scientists at the U.S. space agency confused.
The bright flash of blue light, known as Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT), appeared in the middle of seemingly empty space and is thought to have burned at about 36,000 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NASA.
NASA explained that the LFBOT is a phenomenon which is among the brightest and most unpredictable known visible-light events in the universe.
"The discovery poses many more questions than it answers”, NASA Hubble wrote in a series of social media posts on X, originally launched as Twitter. “A Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient is an intense burst that shines in blue light and evolves rapidly. Hubble pinpointed the location of one, but it confounded astronomers”, it added.
"The discovery poses many more questions than it answers”, NASA Hubble wrote in a series of social media posts on X, originally launched as Twitter.
“A Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient is an intense burst that shines in blue light and evolves rapidly. Hubble pinpointed the location of one, but it confounded astronomers”, it added.
"The LFBOT appeared far between two galaxies - far away from any host galaxy. Previous LFBOTs have been found in star-forming regions in the spiral arms of galaxies, so scientists aren't yet sure what astronomical event might trigger an LFBOT far outside of a galaxy," NASA Hubble wrote in another Tweet.
Giving more details about LFBOT, NASA in a blog post wrote, these cosmic explosions were first discovered in 2018, and only a handful have been detected since then.
The space agency further said that the origins of LBOTs are poorly understood, but a number of potential explanations have been proposed.
As of now, LFBOTs are discovered once per year, NASA said.
The latest LFBOT, nicknamed 'Finch' was detected on April 10, 2023, by the Zwicky Transient Facility, a wide-angle, ground-based camera that scans the entire northern sky every two days.
The discovery has left scientists puzzled as it appeared where it wasn't expected to be found, far away from any host galaxy.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope located its exact position - about 50,000 light years from a nearby spiral galaxy and roughly 15,000 light years from a smaller galaxy.
"The discovery poses many more questions than it answers. More work is needed to figure out which of the many possible explanations is the right one," Ashley Chrimes, a Research Fellow at European Space Agency said.
For all the latest News, Opinions and Views, download ummid.com App.
Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
