A bizarre object called the Cow is the flattest explosion ever detected, and the first example of a rare phenomenon called a fast blue optical transient (FBOT).
University of Sheffield researchers say the explosion was an extremely rare Fast Blue Optical Transient (FBOT) - known colloquially amongst astronomers as the cow .
An explosion the size of our solar system has baffled scientists, as part of its shape - similar to that of an extremely flat disc - challenges everything we know about explosions in space.