Scientists have found a 'perfect' explosion in space that seemingly makes 'no sense'.
Researchers are totally baffled by the mysterious phenomenon. They revealed that 'no one' had expected it.
The explosion in question is called a kilonova which occurs when two neutron stars - some of the densest objects in the universe - collide to create a blast 1,000 times brighter than your standard classical nova.
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Scientists have long-since been trying to understand what exactly the nature of a kilonova is. Even with heaps of research and hours of studying the phenomenon - researchers are still unsure of the answers.
A major question that had been left unanswered was what shape a kilonova was, which many scientists theorised was flattened and asymmetrical.
But, they were wrong.
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In a report titled 'Spherical symmetry in the kilonova', published today (15 February) it was found that the explosion is, to everyone's surprise, a perfect sphere and totally symmetrical.
"No one expected the explosion to look like this," said Darach Watson, associate professor at the Niels Bohr Institute and second author on the study.
Watson continued: "It makes no sense that it is spherical, like a ball. But our calculations clearly show that it is."
Explaining what the findings mean for their database, the professor added: "This probably means that the theories and simulations of kilonovae that we have been considering over the past 25 years lack important physics."
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The unexpected shape has led the scientists to look for a whole host of possible explanations some of which include the potential presence of a 'magnetic bomb' at the core of the kilonova.
However, a satisfactory explanation is yet to be found by the baffled scientists.
The findings could also help with the research seeking to discover just how quickly the universe is expanding.
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"Among astrophysicists there is a great deal of discussion about how fast the Universe is expanding," said Albert Sneppen, a student at the University of Copenhagen who is also first author on a paper describing the findings.
"The speed tells us, among other things, how old the Universe is," he added.
Noting how the 'perfect' explosion of the kilonova has totally switched up the game, Sneppen said: "The two methods that exist to measure it disagree by about a billion years.
"Here we may have a third method that can complement and be tested against the other measurements."
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Watson echoed the point, explaining that kilonovae was somewhat of a 'cosmetic ruler'.
He said: "If they are bright and mostly spherical, and if we know how far away they are, we can use kilonovae as a new way to measure the distance independently - a new kind of cosmic ruler."
The professor continued to call the new research 'crucial' as, through finding out the shape of the mysterious explosion, scientists can better understand spacial measurements.
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Watson added: "If you have an object that is not spherical, it emits differently, depending on your sight angle. A spherical explosion provides much greater precision in the measurement."
Rhiannon Ingle