Observations of a rare astronomical phenomenon, called a luminous red nova, suggest that this bright outburst was caused by a red giant colliding with another star. Astronomers used the Liverpool Telescopeto track the outburst over several months and hunted through the Hubble Space Telescope archive to identify possible progenitors. Dr Steven Williams will present the results at the National Astronomy Meeting 2015 in Llandudno on Thursday 9th July.
“We found that our observations of M31LRN 2015 showed strong similarities to other objects classified as luminous red novae. If a single mechanism is responsible for all these rare events, the evidence suggests merging stars as the cause,” said Williams. He added, “Further observations of this and other systems are certainly needed. Astronomers have some way to go before these enigmatic objects are fully understood.”
Read the full press release at RAS News