Articles tagged with Supernovae
Astronomers have identified a supernova at least twice as bright and energetic as any recorded, with calculations suggesting it may be an extremely rare 'pulsational pair-instability' supernova. The explosion was powered by a collision between the supernova and a massive shell of gas.
Astronomers have identified a massive white dwarf star with a unique carbon-rich atmosphere, suggesting it was formed from the merger of two white dwarfs. The discovery raises questions about the evolution of massive white dwarf stars and the number of supernovae in our galaxy.
A team of international researchers has discovered approximately 100 red transients in publicly available sky data from the 1950s to the present, which could be attributed to natural astrophysical phenomena or rare events. The findings have potential implications for our understanding of stellar evolution and active galactic nuclei.
A newly discovered ancient star contains a record-low amount of iron, hinting at the nature of the first stars in the Universe. The ultra-metal-poor red giant star has iron levels 1.5 million times lower than that of the Sun.
A team of researchers has discovered a massive star that formed a planetary nebula, pushing the limits of theoretical predictions. The star, PNe BMP1613-5406, is one of the most massive stars ever found to have formed a PN, providing valuable insights into stellar evolution and chemical composition.
Researchers suggest ancient supernovae induced proto-humans to walk on two legs, resulting in bipedalism and eventual human evolution. The study proposes that atmospheric ionization triggered an upsurge in cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, igniting forest fires and stimulating the transition from woodland to savanna.
Astronomers found that early supernovae ejected violent jets, enriching the gas clouds of subsequent stars. The team's discovery challenges previous assumptions about the first stars' explosions.
Astronomers found a pulsar hurtling through space at nearly 2.5 million miles an hour, faster than 99% of those with measured speeds. The discovery sheds light on how supernova explosions can accelerate neutron stars to high speeds.
Astronomers have found a pulsar that has escaped the debris of a supernova explosion and is now speeding away at nearly 700 miles per second. The discovery provides important insights into how pulsars can gain speed from supernovae.
Researchers revised the megalodon shark's extinction timeline, finding evidence of genuine fossil occurrences until 3.6 million years ago. The team proposes that competition with great white sharks led to megalodon's demise, rather than a supernova or marine mass extinction.
The Zwicky Transient Facility has discovered over 1,100 supernovae and 50 near-Earth asteroids in its first operations. The facility's advanced camera surveys the northern skies every three nights, capturing fleeting cosmic events previously impossible to detect.
The Zwicky Transient Facility has identified thousands of new objects in the night sky, including binary star systems and black holes. The facility's automated alert system has successfully generated over 1.2 million alerts each night, sharing data with survey partners who are experimenting with machine-learning classification systems.
Researchers measured temperatures of slow-moving gas atoms surrounding a star after an exploding star's shock wave, answering a long-standing question about their physical processes. The results confirm the relationship between atomic weight and temperature, settling an important issue in astrophysics.
A rare nearby hypernova has provided new insights into the connection between gamma-ray bursts and supernovae. Researchers discovered a hot cocoon around the jets of matter expelled by the central engine, explaining why some hypernovae do not produce GRBs.
Astronomers have detected a new component in the death of massive stars, linking gamma-ray bursts and hypernovae. The study reveals an additional hot cocoon generated around the jet, explaining differences between GRBs and hypernovae.
Astronomers have observed a rare supernova that provides a unique glimpse into the physics of black hole or neutron star creation. The object, known as AT2018cow, is thought to be the formation of an accreting black hole or neutron star.
A team suggests that a supernova or series of supernovae may have caused mass extinctions of large ocean animals, including the massive shark species Megalodon. The energy from these cosmic events would have triggered climate change and increased cancer rates in larger animals due to penetrating particles called muons.
Astronomers have found a rare gamma-ray burst candidate in the Milky Way's star system Apep, which could pose a threat to Earth. The system, featuring a pair of scorchingly luminous stars, is thought to be on the brink of a massive supernova explosion.
Researchers have discovered an ultra-stripped supernova, a rare type of supernova believed to play a role in forming binary neutron star systems. The discovery advances understanding of gravitational waves and the origin of precious metals.
Researchers detected extended infrared emissions around RX J0806.4-4123, suggesting a 'fallback disk' of material or a pulsar wind nebula. The findings challenge current understanding of neutron star evolution and offer new avenues for study with the NASA James Webb Space Telescope.
Researchers observe a supernova explosion that remained visible six years after the initial event, sparking predictions of a pulsar wind nebula. The phenomenon could shed light on the fundamental physics behind superluminous supernovae and their potential role in producing gravitational waves.
Researchers have proposed a new method to investigate supernovae explosions, utilizing meteorites and electron anti-neutrinos. By measuring the amount of Ruthenium isotope 98Ru, scientists can estimate the characteristics of electron anti-neutrinos in supernovae, shedding light on their role in the explosion mechanism.
Researchers used the Murchison Widefield Array to observe radiation from cosmic rays in two neighboring galaxies, detecting areas of star formation and remnants from past supernovae. The study provides insights into the rate of star formation in these galaxies, shedding light on their unique features.
Researchers found that circumstellar matter surrounding red supergiant stars can hide shock breakout light, causing supernovae to brighten faster than expected. The discovery changes our understanding of stellar evolution and offers insights into the origin of diversity in supernovae.
Researchers observe light echoes from Eta Carinae and its surroundings to decode the extent of a historic stellar blast. The team determines that the star released almost as much energy as a typical supernova explosion, but a double-star system remained intact.
A new study from RIT reveals that galaxy outskirts are likely hunting grounds for dying massive stars and black holes. Researchers have identified a method to pinpoint the location of massive black holes using supernovae with collapsing cores, offering a promising approach to detecting gravitational waves.
Astronomers have directly observed the magnetism in Supernova 1987A, a dying star that appeared thirty years ago. The detection reveals a degree of order in the magnetic field, contrary to chaotic expectations.
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a blue supergiant star called Icarus, which is the farthest individual star observed. The team used gravitational lensing to magnify the star's light, revealing its true nature and providing insights into dark matter theory.
Astronomers have discovered the most distant star ever observed, existing only 4.4 billion years after the Big Bang, using gravitational lensing with the Hubble Space Telescope. The light from the star was magnified 2000 times, allowing for its detection.
Astronomers have captured the most distant normal star ever observed, 9 billion light years away, using gravitational lensing. The blue supergiant was magnified over 2,000 times and is hundreds of thousands of times brighter than our Sun.
The Water Recovery X-ray rocket, WRX, will test a newly-developed X-ray spectrograph and study the X-rays from a supernova remnant in the Milky Way galaxy. The mission will provide information about the conditions in the Vela supernova remnant, including temperature, density, chemical composition, and ionization state.
Researchers discovered a Fast-Evolving Luminous Transient (FELT) captured by the Kepler Space Telescope in 2015. The transient rose in brightness over just 2.2 days and faded within 10 days, with scientists attributing its cause to a 'burp' from the star before exploding.
A team of researchers validated theoretical predictions about the initial evolution of stellar explosions using data from a rare supernova captured by an amateur astronomer. The study found that the rapid brightening rate and low luminosity of SN 2016gkg supported models predicting shock emergence during the explosion.
Astronomers capture unique data on a Type IIb supernova using amateur photographs, providing insights into the physical structure of the star and the nature of the explosion. The discovery sheds new light on the type of stars that explode and the physics behind massive stellar collapses.
An amateur astronomer in Argentina captured the rare first optical light from a massive exploding star, providing valuable insights into the supernova explosion and the star's physical structure. The discovery was made using a new camera and allowed scientists to determine the type of star that exploded and the nature of the explosion.
The team discovered DES16C2nm, a superluminous supernova, in the Dark Energy Survey, providing insights into the explosion and its potential connection to magnetars. The detection offers opportunities for advances in stellar astrophysics and cosmology, allowing researchers to study the expansion history of the universe.
The study reveals that massive stars are much more abundant than previously thought, with a significant fraction of stellar mass in high-mass stars. The research has far-reaching consequences for the understanding of our cosmos, including an estimated 70% increase in supernovae and 200% increase in chemical yields.
Observations of a nearby star-forming region have revealed that large stars are more prevalent than predicted by models. The study found that there were many more stars at high masses, with a top-heavy initial mass function expected to generate exotic objects like black holes and neutron stars.
Researchers suggest that our solar system formed in a wind-blown bubble structure around a Wolf-Rayet star, which produces elements like aluminium-26 but not iron-60. This theory aims to explain the unusual abundance of these elements in our solar system compared to the rest of the galaxy.
Researchers will track ultra-heavy cosmic rays using the Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (SuperTIGER) instrument. The mission seeks to understand how and where heavy elements are formed in stars.
An international team of astronomers discovered a star that exploded multiple times over 50 years, challenging existing theories on cosmic catastrophes. The star, iPTF14hls, was found to be at least 50 times more massive than the sun and may be the first example of a rare 'Pulsational Pair Instability Supernova'.
A team of scientists has discovered a remarkable exception to existing theories on supernovae, with a star that exploded multiple times over 50 years. The star, iPTF14hls, was initially observed as an ordinary supernova but grew brighter and dimmer at least five times.
Two Princeton astrophysicists have received funding to investigate the physics of merging neutron stars, which produce heavy elements found in our bodies. The project aims to improve our understanding of these events and their observable signatures.
For the first time, astronomers have observed a cataclysmic cosmic event that generated gravitational waves detected on Earth. The event was the merger of two neutron stars in a galaxy 130 million light-years away, resulting in a supernova-like explosion.
Astronomers have observed a neutron star merger, detecting gravitational waves and gamma-ray signatures. Computer simulations suggest that the merger produces heavy elements, which are then dispersed into space, potentially seeding the universe with gold, platinum, and other rare elements.
A team of researchers discovered a way to use ultraviolet light observations to determine characteristics of superluminous supernovae previously unknown. They found that Gaia16apd was most likely an shock-interacting supernova, and their technique could help identify the explosion mechanism of future supernovae.
Researchers have observed a sudden change in rotation speed of SXP 1062, a binary pulsar exhibiting the 'glitch' phenomenon. The discovery provides new constraints on neutron star equation of state and sheds light on the interior dynamics of these compact objects.
A team of Russian and Chinese scientists has developed a model explaining the nature of high-energy cosmic rays in our Galaxy, focusing on Fermi bubbles. They propose that giant shock fronts can re-accelerate protons to energies exceeding 1015 eV, producing the observed CR spectrum above the 'knee'.
A team of astronomers has discovered a superluminous supernova in a spiral galaxy, which is rich in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. This discovery challenges current ideas about the origin of such powerful explosions.
Astronomers detected a rare superluminous supernova, one of the brightest ever seen, in a distant galaxy 10 billion light years away. The explosion occurred during the cosmic high noon period, when star formation peaked 3.5 billion years after the Big Bang.
A team of astronomers discovered a rare superluminous supernova in a distant galaxy 10 billion years ago. The brilliant explosion, one of the brightest ever recorded, occurred at cosmic high noon when the rate of star formation was at its peak.
A new study published in Scientific Reports found that tardigrades can withstand all astrophysical catastrophes and will continue to thrive for at least 10 billion years. The research suggests that life on Earth will extend as long as the Sun shines, opening the possibility of life on other planets.
Researchers use ALMA to capture intricate 3-D rendering of newly formed molecules inside the supernova remnant, revealing previously undetected molecules such as formyl cation and sulfur monoxide. The study provides new insights into the physical instabilities inside a supernova and its impact on the surrounding interstellar space.
Scientists at Cardiff University have discovered new molecules, including formylium and sulphur monoxide, within the remnants of Supernova 1987A. This suggests that supernovae can create clouds of molecules and dust at extremely cold temperatures, similar to those in stellar nurseries where stars are born.
Scientists at the University of Oxford are recreating supernovae in a laboratory using lasers, allowing them to study the properties of these explosive events. This research is helping scientists better understand the origins of our universe and the formation of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.
Astronomers Dr Jane Greaves and Dr Wayne Holland propose a new model for forming planets in the aftermath of a supernova explosion. They suggest that material caught up in the bow-wave around a moving neutron star could provide raw materials for future planet formation. Further data from ALMA is needed to confirm this theory.
Researchers find strong support for neutrino-driven supernova explosions, where neutrinos power the blast. The study confirms the theory using computer simulations and observations of radioactive elements in Cassiopeia A.
A new study by UW-Madison undergraduate Ben Hoscheit confirms the idea that our galaxy lives in an enormous void, seven times larger than average. The findings help ease tension between different measurements of the Hubble Constant, resolving a long-standing discrepancy among cosmologists.
Researchers found a dying star that fizzled out and left behind a black hole, shedding light on why massive stars rarely explode as supernovae. The discovery could help explain the origins of supermassive black holes.
Astronomers discovered a massive star that collapsed into a black hole without exploding as a supernova, challenging the typical view of star formation. The study suggests that up to 30% of massive stars may quietly collapse into black holes without producing a supernova.