NASA telescopes have captured the first-ever image of a star that collapsed to form a compact object.
NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System telescope in Hawaii
picked up a brief and unusual burst in the night sky on in June last year.
picked up a brief and unusual burst in the night sky on in June last year.
Called AT2018cow and nicknamed ‘the Cow’, it occurred inside or near a star-forming galaxy known as CGCG 137-068, located about 200 million light-years away in the constellation Hercules.
For over three days, it produced a sudden explosion of light at least 10 times brighter than a typical supernova. The stellar debris, approaching and swirling around the object’s event horizon, caused the remarkably bright glow.