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Hubble Views Bright Outburst Far from Galaxies

This Hubble photograph shows three galaxies against the velvet-black backdrop of space. The largest is the white and blue spiral-shaped galaxy at image center. Two smaller galaxies are whitish patches toward the left. A curious white spot near the top of the image is the brilliant glow from some unknown object that exploded, but is not associated with any of the galaxies.

A Hubble Space Telescope image of a Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT) designated AT2023fhn, indicated by pointers. It shines intensely in blue light and evolves rapidly, reaching peak brightness and fading again in a matter of days, unlike supernovae which take weeks or months to dim. Only a handful of previous LFBOTs have been discovered since 2018. The surprise is that this latest transient, seen in 2023, lies at a large offset from both the barred spiral galaxy at right and the dwarf galaxy to the upper left. Only Hubble could pinpoint its location. And, the results are leaving astronomers even more confounded because all previous LFBOTs have been found in star-forming regions in the spiral arms of galaxies. It's not clear what astronomical event would trigger such a blast far outside of a galaxy.

About the Object

R.A. Position
R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
10:08:03.82
Dec. Position
Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
+21:04:26.95
Constellation
ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
Leo
Dimensions
DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
Image is about 26 arcseconds across

About the Data

Data Description
Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
This image was created with Hubble data from proposal: 17238 (A. Chrimes)
Instrument
InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
WFC3/ACS
Exposure Dates
Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
17 May 2023
Filters
FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
F555W V

Object Name
Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
AT2023fhn
Object Description
Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT)
Release Date
October 5, 2023
Science Release
NASA’s Hubble Finds Bizarre Explosion in Unexpected Place
Read the release
Credit
NASA, ESA, STScI, Ashley Chrimes (ESA-ESTEC/Radboud University)

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This image was acquired by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The color results from assigning a blue hue to a monochromatic (grayscale) image.

Related Images & Videos

Illustration of one of brightest explosions ever seen in space. Called a Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT), it shines intensely in blue light. It appears as a bright white blob left of center where blue-white and red rays sprout out from it. Toward the right of the image there is a spiral galaxy. To the upper left is another whitish galaxy shaped like a cigar. The LFBOT doesn’t seem to be associated with either galaxy.

Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (Artist's Concept)

This is an artist's concept of one of brightest explosions ever seen in space. Called a Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient (LFBOT), it shines intensely in blue light and evolves rapidly, reaching peak brightness and fading again in a matter of days, unlike supernovae which...