NOT Transient Explorer: Eksploderende stjerner og gigantiske sorte huller i Universet

Research on transient sources has in recent years developed into one of the most interesting in astrophysics. Traditionally, astronomy has studied persistent sources on the sky, i.e. stars, planets, galaxies, etc, that emit or reflect light more or less constantly in time. Transient sources are sources that quickly appear and fade away again, either due to catastrophic events like stellar explosions or collisons or due to flaring of otherwise persistent sources. The NOT Transient Explorer is designed to quickly observe such transient sources both with imaging and spectroscopy before the light disappears again. These sudden flashes of light often hold unique information about important processes such as production of new chemical elements or the mechanisms behind extreme cosmic explosions.