Optical Transient SCP 06F6
This pair of NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope pictures shows the appearance of a mysterious burst of light that was detected on 21 February 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.
Credit:NASA, ESA and K. Barbary (University of California, Berkeley)
About the Image
About the Object
| Name: | SCP 06F6 |
| Type: | Early Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Supernova |
| Distance: | z=0.14 (redshift) |
| Category: | Miscellaneous |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Infrared I | 775 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
| Infrared Z | 850 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |