Hubble image archive
Optical Transient SCP 06F6
This pair of NASA Hubble Space Telescope pictures shows the appearance of a mysterious burst of light that was detected on February 21, 2006, brightened over 100 days, and then faded into oblivion after another 100 days. The source of the outburst remains unidentified.The event w...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2009
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2009-04-2460-image
This pair of NASA Hubble Space Telescope pictures shows the appearance of a mysterious burst of light that was detected on February 21, 2006, brightened over 100 days, and then faded into oblivion after another 100 days. The source of the outburst remains unidentified.
The event was detected serendipitously in a Hubble search for supernovae in a distant cluster of galaxies. The light-signature of this event does not match the behavior of a supernova or any previously observed astronomical transient phenomenon in the universe.
Astronomers do not know the object's distance, so it can either be in our Milky Way galaxy or at a great astronomical distance. The optical spectrum of the object contains absorption features that have not yet been identified. This may represent a previously undetected class of transient phenomenon in the universe.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and K. Barbary (University of California, Berkeley/Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Supernova Cosmology Project)Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | SCP 06F6 |
| Object Description | Optical Transient |
| R.A. Position | 14h 32m 27.39s |
| Dec. Position | 33° 32' 24.82" |
| Constellation | Boötes |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | Science Team: This image was created from HST data from proposal : S. Perlmutter (University of California, Berkeley). |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/WFC |
| Exposure Dates | May 21, 2006, Exposure Time: 9.8 minutes |
| Filters | F775W (SDSS i) and F850LP (SDSS z) |
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Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
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