Cocooned, dying stars may cause sudden, bright blasts that confound scientists

The dying star forms around a Cocoon.

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New research suggests that scientists may be caused by dying stars.

Fast blue optical Transients (FBOTs) are characterized by their heat and rapid evolution, and only a few have been recorded. Astronomers give them evocative nicknames, like "the Camel" or "the Koala".

A new model suggests that the bursts happen in the chaotic environment of a dying star. Such stars shoot out powerful jets, which smash into layers of gas as their fusion slows down. The model suggests that as the cocoon cools, it releases heat rapidly, which we see as the FBOT.

Ore Gottlieb, a theoretical high energy astrophysicist who led the research, said in a statement that the cocoon was as powerful as an FBOT.

There are great images of star explosions.

FBOTs are most visible in the visible part of the spectrum. A supernova star explosion can cause a bright burst of light, but it fades away quickly. Four years ago, they were observed for the first time in science.

There are other origin stories that explain the weird bursts. Astronomers think FBOTs may be related to a set of powerful explosions associated with dying stars. Huge stars collapse into black holes, causing GRBs.

Gottlieb said he was not sure. While GRBs and FBOTs both have asymmetrical shapes, there is a key difference between the two displays. It could not be the same phenomenon.

Gottlieb and his team created accounts for the discrepancy between the GRB and FBOT. The scientists argue that the jet cannot penetrate the thick layer of the cocoon since the hydrogen-rich stars that cause FBOTs have gas in the outer layer.

Gottlieb said that it fails to produce a GRB because of that. FBOT emissions occur when the jet sends all its energy to the gas in the cocoon, which in turn glows.

FBOTs can be seen in radio and X-ray waves and appear to have an explanation in the model. The movement of the cocoon creates radio emissions as the stellar material heats up.

The X-rays come later in the process, as a black hole is created from the collapsed star, and the X-rays from the black hole are believed to leak out from the thin and weaker edges of the cocoon.

More observational data would help confirm the model and create more advanced simulations of FBOT and GRB behavior. The Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society published a study based on the current research.

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