View Laura K. Kinoshita's profileScientists at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom have found an explosion unlike any seen before. Dubbed "SCP 06F6" it may be the first known example of an entirely new breed of supernova explosions.
To find a supernova that is completely different from any other known explosion is a rare event. It means that astronomers may have found an example of nature doing things in unexpected ways, or even point the way to new, undiscovered laws of physics. At a minimum, such a discovery could potentially change scientific views of the way massive stars live out their short lives.
SCP 06F6 seems to have occurred in intergalactic space, detached from a host galaxy. It may be that SCP 06F6 is not an explosion caused by stellar collapse, as all known supernovae are. Instead, the explosion might have been caused when a carbon-rich star was torn apart by a black hole. But researchers admit that could be an unusual explanation, especially since the source doesn't seem to be associated with a galaxy.
A more likely explanation is that the explosion was a very rare core-collapse of a carbon-rich star. If that's the case, SCP 06F6 would be the first discovery of an entirely new type of supernova. Scientists are eager to find more examples. New experiments with the Pan-STARRS and LSST all-sky surveys will help in coming years. Until then, the nature of SCP 06F6 will remain a mystery.
The discovery of SCP 06F6 is described in the Astrophysical Journal at: http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0809/0809.2562v1.pdf
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