Astronomers have identified the source of fast X-ray transients (FXTs) linked to dying stars. When a massive star explodes as a supernova, it emits a jet producing a gamma ray burst. However, the star's remnants can trap this jet, resulting in weaker emissions known as a 'failed' jet. FXTs originate from Type Ic supernovae, which occur in stars that have lost their hydrogen and helium layers. A significant finding from the Einstein Probe revealed an FXT, EP 250108a, located only 2.8 billion light years from Earth, providing a new perspective on these cosmic events.
As the jet is being launched, that extra material from the star that didn't collapse into the black hole interacts with the jet in such a way that sort of suppresses the jet from actually breaking out of the outer layers.
The nickname astronomers have for these weakened blasts is nearly as brutal as the catastrophic event itself: a 'failed' jet.
FXTs arise from a type of stellar explosion called a Type Ic supernova, which occurs in stars that have long shed their outermost layers of hydrogen and helium.
Rastinejad and her team's breakthrough came when data collected in the Einstein Probe, an X-ray telescope program, revealed an FXT that was unusually close to Earth.
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