Scientists have managed to capture a strange explosion in a small galaxy located 500 million light-years away.
The work was carried out by an international team led by the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE, dependent on the Higher council of Scientific Research (CSIC) in Spain) and the Institute of space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC).
The flash, identified as CSS 161010, reached its maximum brightness in just 4 days and halved in just 2.5 days, which is completely unusual and which made both its revelation and the observations following its evolution become a scientific milestone and a challenge for humanity.research group. the lead author of this work is Claudia Gutiérrez, researcher at ICE and IECEC.
The CSS 161010 event was discovered by the CRTTS (Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey), with a previous detection reported by the ASAS-SN (All-Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae). Its subsequent monitoring, which allowed its characterization, was carried out with several telescopes, including the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) and the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT), both installed at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory, of Institute of Astrophysics of the Atlantic Ocean Canary Islands (IAC), located in the municipality of Garafía, in La Palma, Spain.
These types of rapidly evolving cosmic phenomena have been very challenging to study due to their nature. Though, modern techniques and the moast advanced instruments allow them to be analyzed thanks to the improvement of the field of view and the ability to capture high-resolution images of the telescopes used.
To date, only a dozen cosmic explosions with these characteristics in terms of brightness and evolution have been detected, and their origin remains a complete mystery. However, the team led by Claudia Gutiérrez believes that, for the first time, the unique spectral properties of CSS 161010 provide vital clues to its physical origin. The analysis carried out on the basis of these clues and other data suggests that it is a small black hole swallowing a star.
This conclusion was reached because the analysis found broad lines of hydrogen that showed very high speeds, up to 10% of the speed of light, and unprecedented evolution. Two months after the explosion began,the object’s brightness had decreased 900 times compared to its maximum. Surprisingly, the spectra captured by the Gran Telescopio Canarias at this time revealed that all the profiles of the hydrogen lines were still blueshifted, which in astrophysics means that they are approaching us at extremely high speeds. This would indicate a strong outflow of gas,something completely unexpected for a supernova.
“discovering and analyzing these cosmic explosions is especially difficult due to their rapid evolution. However, the agile response of our scientific collaboration allowed us to obtain high-quality spectra. These data revealed unique properties never observed in any other object,which allowed us to delimit the nature of this remarkable event,” explains postdoctoral researcher Claudia Gutiérrez.
“When we saw the ghosts, we didn’t know what to say,” Gutiérrez says. “We have never found a hydrogen line profile so blue-shifted; This shift would mean that the gas is moving towards us at extremely high speeds. We found this feature surprising and intriguing, which pushed us to investigate possible connections with the galaxy where the event occurred,” he adds.
In search of intermediate mass black holes
The explosion occurred in a tiny galaxy that contains a mass of stars about 400 times less than that of our Milky Way. Therefore, if the galaxy hosts a massive black hole, its mass must also be small, which corresponds to a black hole of intermediate mass (between 100 and 100,000 times the mass of the Sun).
“Until now, black holes of this type have been extremely difficult to identify and astronomers are only aware of a very limited number of confirmed cases,” explains Professor Seppo Mattila, from the University of Turku (Finland), one of the main authors. of work.
“Identifying and characterizing intermediate-mass black holes is essential to understanding the formation pathways and evolution of black holes. In fact, these are the fundamental components of supermassive black holes found at the center of galaxies, such as our Milky Way, and whose existence has also been observed in the primordial universe”, adds Professor Mattila.
Recreation of the explosive phenomenon, identified as CSS 161010, in which a black hole swallows a star. (Image: Gabriel Pérez / IAC)
For his part, Professor Peter Lundqvist, of Stockholm University, also a member of this team, adds: “The way in which linear emission evolves in this object resembles that observed in active galactic nuclei, where it is I know that supermassive black holes exist. “This similarity provides strong evidence that CSS 161010 also hosts a black hole, albeit not a very massive one.”
Lundqvist notes: “The disintegration of a star that has come too close to the intermediate-mass black hole reveals the otherwise quiescent black hole. “There are probably other black holes of this type in other dwarf galaxies, and we need to track events similar to CSS 161010 to be able to more precisely determine the properties of these black holes.”
“Telescopes scanning the sky at high cadence will be crucial to increasingly discover these rare and rapidly evolving phenomena,” says Gutiérrez, adding: “Meanwhile, cutting-edge spectrographs installed on ground-based telescopes like the ones we use in the The Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, in La Palma, will play a crucial role in its characterization. “We are on the cusp of an era full of revolutionary discoveries.”
The study is titled “CSS 161010: A luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient with broad Blueshifted Hydrogen Lines.” And it was published in the academic journal the Astrophysical Journal. (Source: ICE/CSIC)
What are the key characteristics that differentiate CSS 161010 from other cosmic explosions?
Interview Between Time.news Editor and Claudia Gutiérrez, Astrophysicist
Time.news Editor: good day, Claudia! Thank you for joining us to discuss your remarkable work on the CSS 161010 cosmic explosion. to start, could you give us a brief overview of what CSS 161010 is and why it has captured the attention of the scientific community?
Claudia Gutiérrez: Thank you for having me! CSS 161010 is a transient cosmic event that we discovered as a luminous explosion originating from a small galaxy about 500 million light-years away. What sets it apart is its remarkable evolution; it reached maximum brightness in just four days and then dimmed considerably in just over two days. This rapid change is very unusual for cosmic explosions and poses both a scientific milestone and a challenge in our understanding of such phenomena.
Time.news Editor: Captivating! You mentioned that detecting CSS 161010 was a collaborative effort. How did your team, along with other institutions, manage to observe and analyze this event?
Claudia Gutiérrez: It indeed took a collaborative effort! The initial detection was made by the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey, with follow-up observations from the All-sky Automated survey for Supernovae. After that, several telescopes — including the Gran Telescopio Canarias and the Nordic Optical Telescope — monitored the event closely at the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma, Spain. These advanced facilities allowed us to capture high-resolution images of the explosion as it evolved.
Time.news Editor: What were some of the most surprising findings from your analysis of CSS 161010?
Claudia Gutiérrez: One of the most striking discoveries was the broad lines of hydrogen that exhibited extremely high velocities — up to 10% of the speed of light! This indicates that the material expelled by the explosion is moving towards us at incredible speeds. Furthermore,even when the brightness dropped by 900 times after two months,we still observed that these lines remained blueshifted. This suggests a strong outflow of gas, which is not typical behavior for a supernova, leading us to conclude that we might be witnessing a small black hole consuming a star.
Time.news Editor: So, you believe CSS 161010 represents a small black hole swallowing a star. What implications does this have for our understanding of black holes and stellar dynamics?
Claudia Gutiérrez: This finding is pivotal as it offers potential insights into the formation of black holes and their interactions with surrounding stellar material. Up until now, the events we’ve observed were often categorized as supernovae without this particular interaction with a black hole. If we confirm this categorization, it could enhance our understanding of how black holes evolve and the types of interactions they can have with nearby stars.
Time.news Editor: It sounds like your team has opened new avenues for research.What challenges did you face while conducting this study, and how did modern technology help you overcome them?
Claudia Gutiérrez: The primary challenge was the event’s fleeting nature; rapidly evolving phenomena like CSS 161010 are notoriously difficult to study. However, advancements in technology, such as wide-field imaging and high-resolution spectroscopy, allowed us to make more precise observations than ever before.our team leveraged these tools effectively, exploring the spectra and characteristics of the explosion in ways previous generations of scientists could only dream of.
Time.news Editor: Claudia,it sounds like you and your team have made significant strides in understanding cosmic events. What does the future hold for research in this area? Are there plans for further study of CSS 161010?
Claudia Gutiérrez: Absolutely! We plan to continue our observations and analyses, with the hope of unveiling more about CSS 161010 and possibly finding similar events. Each of these cosmic phenomena acts as a puzzle piece in a much larger picture that helps us understand the universe’s complexity. New technologies and collaborative efforts are essential to advance our knowledge further.
Time.news Editor: Thank you, Claudia! Exciting times ahead for astrophysics, and we look forward to hearing more from you and your team as you continue your groundbreaking research.
Claudia Gutiérrez: Thank you! It’s been a pleasure to share our insights, and I appreciate your interest in our work.
