At first, it was considered a rapid blue optical transition – a phenomenon similar to supernovae and gamma-ray bursts in terms of high optical brightness. However, the explosion turned out to be unprecedentedly flat, which is a very unusual event as stars often explode in a spherical fashion due to their shape.
The discovery was made by chance when scientists used the Liverpool Telescope to capture a flash of polarized light and measure the degree of polarization. The resulting data was used to create a three-dimensional model of the explosion.
The authors of the study suggest that there are several explanations for the unique shape of the explosion: the star formed a disk just before death, or it could be an unformed supernova whose core collapsed into a black hole or neutron star, and then absorbs the rest of the glow. The discovery is expected to spark further research and help astronomers better understand how stars die and how they can form black holes.
Source: Ferra
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