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UAE astronomy centre captures explosion from star 20 times bigger than Sun

The observatory was the third in the world to publish the results of this phenomenon

Published: Mon 26 Aug 2024, 5:31 PM

Updated: Mon 26 Aug 2024, 5:35 PM

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Photo: Astronomy Center/X

Photo: Astronomy Center/X

A UAE astronomy centre captured a powerful cosmic explosion throughout the night of August 25 in Abu Dhabi.

The Al Khatem Astronomical Observatory located in the capital's desert, monitored and documented the phenomenon that was most likely caused due to the explosion of a large star located in a galaxy more than six billion light years away.

As per the Astronomy Centre, this star is 20 times the size of the Sun. The cosmic event was named GRB 240825A. Astronomers were able to document the process by monitoring the optical afterglow that followed the explosion.

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The observatory was the third in the world to publish the results of this phenomenon.

Initially observed by NASA’s Swift and Fermi gamma-ray telescopes, the UAE observatory upon receiving the alert at 8.48pm, turned their the telescope towards the target from which gamma rays and X-rays were emitting.

After two hours of observation, an amount of visible light depicted a rapid fading of the glow. The captured results will be studied by researchers for the coming few weeks. The image shows the amount of change in the brightness of the exploding star over time. The second image shows the exploding star as photographed by the observatory.

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