LATINNUDISTS

Home Tech Bright blue flashes are coming to Earth from deep space – but what are they?

Bright blue flashes are coming to Earth from deep space – but what are they?

Tech • December 22, 2025 • 0 Comment
Something out in space is sending us very bright blasts of blue light – and now researchers may have figured out what they are. The phenomenon is known as luminous fast blue optical transients (or LFBOTs) and comes in the form of short, bright flashes of light that fade away and leave behind X-ray and radio emissions. They have puzzled researchers for over a decade, despite scientists having spotted more than a dozen of them. (Picture: Getty)
Attempts by experts to to explain them have spanned everything from strange supernovae to interstellar gas being eaten by a black hole. But now scientists believe they have another cause. After studying a new example, which was found last year and was the brightest of its kind, the researchers say that the LFBOTs are caused by ‘extreme tidal disruption’. That happens when vast black holes eats its companion star, tearing it to shreds. (Picture: Getty)
Discovering this means that as well as helping explain the mysterious phenomenon, the research could help us better understand how black holes work and the ways that stars evolve. For example, scientists still don’t know how huge black holes actually come to form. (Picture: Getty)
Senior author Dr Raffaella Margutti said: ‘Theorists have come up with many ways to explain how we get these large black holes, to explain what LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) sees LFBOTs allow you to get at this question from a completely different angle. They also allow us to characterize the precise location where these things are inside their host galaxy, which adds more context in trying to understand how we end up with this setup — a very large black hole and a companion.’(Picture: Getty)
LFBOTs got their name because they are bright and visible over distances of hundreds of millions to billions of light-years, but they only last a few days, producing high-energy light ranging from the blue end of the optical spectrum through ultraviolet and X-ray. The first one was seen in 2014, but the first with sufficient data was analysed in 2018, and was called AT 2018cow. (Picture: Getty)
The newest LFBOT is named AT 2024wpp and was analysed in two papers recently accepted by The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The researchers realised that the transient outburst could not have resulted from a supernova after the researchers calculated the energy emitted. It turned out to be 100 times greater than what would be produced in a normal supernova, which would require the conversion of about 10% of the rest mass of the sun into energy over a very short time scale, mere weeks.(Picture: Getty)
First author of one of the papers, Natalie LeBaron, said: ‘The sheer amount of radiated energy from these bursts is so large that you can’t power them with the collapse and explosion of a massive star – or any other type of normal stellar explosion. The main message from AT 2024wpp is that the model that we started off with is wrong. It’s definitely not caused by an exploding star.’  (Picture: Getty)

Related Posts

7 weird things your body does in life-or-death situations

Tech December 22, 2025 • 0 Comment
We’ve all heard of the ‘fight or flight’ response, where your body reacts to stress or danger with a faster…

Three flights at risk after SpaceX rocket exploded sending debris raining down

Tech December 21, 2025 • 0 Comment
{“@context”:”https://schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Jan 2025: SpaceX Starship rocket launch goes wrong and disintegrates”,”duration”:”T4M13S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/17/07/94201445-0-image-m-10_1737099233695.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2025-01-17T06:53:08+0000″,”description”:”Airspace over the Gulf of Mexico is closed, grounding commercial flights,…

Full list of areas in the UK targeted in ‘dodgy’ Fire TV sticks crackdown

Tech December 21, 2025 • 0 Comment
A fresh crackdown on those selling ‘dodgy’ fire sticks has led many to shut their operations down (Picture: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek…

Drones detect highly infectious virus in whales’ breath

Tech December 20, 2025 • 0 Comment
Scientists have used drones with petri dishes to collect samples of blow drops from ocean whales (Picture: Universal Images) Researchers…

Nasa’s Mars probe goes dark after encounter with interstellar visitor

Tech December 19, 2025 • 0 Comment
When 3I/ATLAS was discovered in July, the science community was delighted. But as the interstellar object comes closer and closer…

You may soon have to pay to post links on Facebook

Tech December 19, 2025 • 0 Comment
Some users have been told they can only post up to two links per month on Facebook unless they sign…

iPhone users urged to update phone as Apple backtracks on update users ‘hate’

Tech December 19, 2025 • 0 Comment
If you’re finding the ‘liquid glass’ iPhone design a bit much, there’s good news. Apple has backtracked on the intensity,…

‘My grandad died and I didn’t know how to feel – so I turned to ChatGPT for therapy’

Tech December 19, 2025 • 0 Comment
Metro spoke with a teenager, a psychologist and a youth worker to find out why (Picture: Getty) Melissa, 18, had…

Tiny paint flecks could knock out the internet at any moment, experts say

Tech December 18, 2025 • 0 Comment
Earth’s low-orbit is a big rubbish heap at this point (Picture: Getty) The next time your Wi-Fi goes down, your…

Defenceless Uber Eats robot thrown into bush by two Wee Willy Winkies, a cow and a Pikachu

Tech December 18, 2025 • 0 Comment
{“@context”:”https://schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”name”:”Revellers in Leeds fight food delivery robot”,”duration”:”T36S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/12/17/17/104817049-0-image-a-16_1765991336579.jpg”,”uploadDate”:”2025-12-17T17:04:14+0000″,”description”:”Whatever’s inside probably isn’t going to be all right after being thrown about in…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.