Space

Outbursts from a Massive Star

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Briefings

Astronomers identified AT 2016blu, a massive star in NGC 4559 with at least 33 solar masses, as the source of repeated X-ray outbursts. The star is located approximately 30 million light-years from Earth and was imaged by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The discovery was published in November 2026 using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and NASA's Space Telescope Science Institute.

Key points

• AT 2016blu is a massive star in NGC 4559 with a mass of at least 33 times that of the Sun.
• Repeated X-ray outbursts are triggered by this volatile star located 30 million light-years from Earth.

Context

This discovery explains the source of repeated X-ray outbursts from a giant, unstable star in the spiral galaxy NGC 4559, located about 30 million light-years from Earth. The star is known as AT 2016blu and is imaged by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Limitations

The evidence is limited to the specific X-ray and optical data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and NASA's Space Telescope Science Institute. The exact nature of the triggering mechanism remains unconfirmed, and the precise orbital dynamics of the star are not fully characterized.

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