Recently the Indian-American astronomer Shrinivas Kulkarni was awarded the Shaw Prize for Astronomy
in 2024 for his work on the physics of astronomical transients.
What are Astronomical Transients?
In astronomy, a ‘transient’ is any celestial object whose brightness changes in short spans of time.
There are many kinds of astronomical transients, all of them united by phenomena that are violent in some
measure.
Astronomers study transients to understand where their violence comes from and what that can tell us
about non-transient events.
Examples of Astronomical Transients
Supernovae: A supernova is what happens when a star has reached the end of its life and explodes in a
brilliant burst of light.
Active galactic nucleus (AGN): The centers of massive galaxies host supermassive black holes. Sometimes,
these black holes actively feast on matter in their orbit.
Interactions between the black holes and the matter in this process cause the latter to acquire energy and
glow with a changing brightness.
Fast radio burst (FRB): It was discovered in 2007 and can emit more than 10-times as much energy as the
Sun in a few milliseconds.
