SN 2009bb: The Emperor's new Death Star?

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, a massive star exploded as a supernova. The light from this explosion has reached our telescopes after traveling through deep space for more than a hundred million years. We have found evidence for a relativistic outflow from this supernova driven by a central engine, possibly the newly formed black hole or neutron star at its core. Till now engine driven outflows have been only found in supernovae associated with Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs), brief flashes of intense collimated gamma radiation first picked up by military satellites looking for secret atomic bomb tests of adversaries in the outer space! This is the first time that a relativistic supernova has been found without a detected GRB, hence we shall discuss scenarios for its origin and its implications.”