Chandra sees most powerful supernova ever
Posted: Tue, May 8, 2007, 8:10 AM ET (1210 GMT)
Astronomers using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have detected what they believe to be the most powerful supernova explosion ever, one that outshone its host galaxy. Astronomers said Monday that they believe a supermassive star, 150 times as massive as the Sun, exploded in a supernova 100 times as powerful as a typical supernova. The event, designated SN 2006gy, took place in a galaxy 240 million light-years away, and may be similar to the supernovae that ended the lives of the first generation of stars that formed after the Big Bang. Astronomers said that a star in our own galaxy, Eta Carinae, only about 7,000 light-years from the Earth, could explode in a similar spectacular fashion in the relatively near future.
Astronomers using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have detected what they believe to be the most powerful supernova explosion ever, one that outshone its host galaxy. Astronomers said Monday that they believe a supermassive star, 150 times as massive as the Sun, exploded in a supernova 100 times as powerful as a typical supernova. The event, designated SN 2006gy, took place in a galaxy 240 million light-years away, and may be similar to the supernovae that ended the lives of the first generation of stars that formed after the Big Bang. Astronomers said that a star in our own galaxy, Eta Carinae, only about 7,000 light-years from the Earth, could explode in a similar spectacular fashion in the relatively near future.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, March 12
Rocket Lab Schedules Two Launches Three Days Apart, Upcoming Mission to Deploy Final Satellites in Kinéis Constellation
Rocket Lab — 5:12 am ET (0912 GMT) Rocket Lab Announces “At The Market” (ATM) Equity Offering Program
Rocket Lab — 5:12 am ET (0912 GMT) Rocket Lab Announces Intention to Acquire Mynaric, Leading Laser Communications Provider, in Latest Strategic Step Toward Becoming an End-to-End Space Company
Rocket Lab — 5:11 am ET (0911 GMT) DOD Probes Commercial GEO-based Situational Awareness Options
Aviation Week — 5:10 am ET (0910 GMT) Chinese Citizen Pleads Guilty to Flying Drone Over Vandenberg Space Force Base
Santa Barbara (CA) Edhat — 5:10 am ET (0910 GMT) |
