* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

SCP 06F6

Blobrana · L

Title: SCP06F6: A carbon-rich extragalactic transient at redshift z~0.14
Authors: B.T. Gaensicke, A.J. Levan, T.R. Marsh, P.J. Wheatley

We show that the spectrum of the unusual transient SCP06F6 is consistent with emission from a cool, carbon-rich atmosphere at a redshift of z~0.14. The extragalactic nature of the transient rules out novae, shell flashes, and V838 Mon-like events as cause of the observed brightening. The distance to SCP 06F6 implies a peak magnitude of M_I~-18, in the regime of supernovae. The morphology of the light curve of SCP 06F6 around the peak in brightness resembles the slowly evolving TypeII supernovae SN 1994Y and SN 2006 gy. We further report the detection of an X-ray source co-incident with SCP 06F6 in a target of opportunity XMM-Newton observation made during the declining phase of the transient. The X-ray luminosity of L_X~(5+-1)x10^42 erg/s is two orders of magnitude higher than observed to date from supernovae. If related to a supernova event, SCP 06F6 would define a new class. An alternative, though less likely, scenario is the tidal disruption of a carbon-rich star.

Read more (44kb, PDF)

Blobrana · L

The spectrum shows a handful of spectral lines, but when astronomers try to trace any one of them to an element such as magnesium, the other lines fail to match up with known elements.

Source

Blobrana · L

An object that brightened intensely and then faded back into obscurity over a period of about seven months is unlike anything astronomers have seen before, a new study reports.
The object, called SCP 06F6, was first spotted in the constellation Bootes in February 2006 in a search for supernovae by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Nothing had been seen at its location before it started to brighten, and nothing was spotted after it dimmed. That suggests it is normally too faint to observe and that it brightened by at least 120 times during its firefly-like episode.

Read more

Blobrana · L

Expand (40kb, 560 x 408)

Google Sky file (2kb, kmz)

Position(2000): RA = 14h32m27s.395, Dec = +33°3224".83

Blobrana · L

Position(2000): RA = 14h32m27s.395, Dec = +33°3224".83

Blobrana · L

On February 21, 2006, in the direction of a far-away cluster in Bootes named CL 1432.5+3332.8 (redshift 1.112, distance 8.2 billion light-years), Hubble began seeing something brighten. It continued brightening for about 100 days and peaked at 21st magnitude in two near-infrared colors. It then faded away over a similar timescale, until nothing was left in view down to 26th magnitude. The object brightened and faded by a factor of at least 120, maybe more.

Read more

Blobrana · L

Title: Discovery of an Unusual Optical Transient with the Hubble Space Telescope
Authors: K. Barbary, K. S. Dawson, K. Tokita, G. Aldering, R. Amanullah, N. V. Connolly, M. Doi, L. Faccioli, V. Fadeyev, A. S. Fruchter, G. Goldhaber, A. Goobar, A. Gude, X. Huang, Y. Ihara, K. Konishi, M. Kowalski, C. Lidman, J. Meyers, T. Morokuma, P. Nugent, S. Perlmutter, D. Rubin, D. Schlegel, A. L. Spadafora, N. Suzuki, H. K. Swift, N. Takanashi, R. C. Thomas, N. Yasuda, for the Supernova Cosmology Project

We present observations of SCP 06F6, an unusual optical transient discovered during the Hubble Space Telescope Cluster Supernova Survey. The transient brightened over a period of ~100 days, reached a peak magnitude of ~21.0 in both i_775 and z_850, and then declined over a similar timescale. There is no host galaxy or progenitor star detected at the location of the transient to a 3 sigma upper limit of i_775 = 26.4 and z_850 = 26.1, giving a corresponding lower limit on the flux increase of a factor of ~120. Multiple spectra show five broad absorption bands between 4100 AA and 6500 AA and a mostly featureless continuum longward of 6500 AA. The shape of the lightcurve is inconsistent with microlensing. The transient's spectrum, in addition to being inconsistent with all known supernova types, is not matched to any spectrum in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database. We suggest that the transient may be one of a new class.

Read more (331kb, PDF)

We present observations of SCP 06F6, an unusual optical transient discovered during the Hubble Space Telescope Cluster Supernova Survey. The transient brightened over a period of ~100 days, reached a peak magnitude of ~21.0 in both i_775 and z_850, and then declined over a similar timescale. There is no host galaxy or progenitor star detected at the location of the transient to a 3 sigma upper limit of i_775 = 26.4 and z_850 = 26.1, giving a corresponding lower limit on the flux increase of a factor of ~120.

Read more