Hubble discovers premature supernova
Posted: Tue, Mar 24, 2009, 6:31 AM ET (1031 GMT)
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a supermassive star that appears to have gone supernova earlier in its life than expected. The supernova, SN 2005gl, was spotted in Hubble archive images from 1997, sight years before it exploded. At the time the star was about 100 times the mass of the Sun and likely belonged to a class of supergiant stars called Luminous Blue Variables. According to models of such stars, this star should not have developed a iron core, the "ash" of fusion reactions, needed to trigger the supernova. Astronomers speculate that this star may have actually been a binary system that looked brighter and less evolved than it actually was, or that there may be other mechanisms for triggering supernova explosions.
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have discovered a supermassive star that appears to have gone supernova earlier in its life than expected. The supernova, SN 2005gl, was spotted in Hubble archive images from 1997, sight years before it exploded. At the time the star was about 100 times the mass of the Sun and likely belonged to a class of supergiant stars called Luminous Blue Variables. According to models of such stars, this star should not have developed a iron core, the "ash" of fusion reactions, needed to trigger the supernova. Astronomers speculate that this star may have actually been a binary system that looked brighter and less evolved than it actually was, or that there may be other mechanisms for triggering supernova explosions.| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, October 24
United States Welcomes Uzbekistan’s Signing of the Artemis Accords
US State Department — 9:56 pm ET (0156 GMT) Kymeta Appoints Former Senior Intelligence Official Elizabeth Kimber to Drive Growth with National Security Partners
Kymeta — 9:55 pm ET (0155 GMT) Zenno Supertorquer Desaturates Reaction Wheels on Impulse Space’s Mira
Zenno Astronautics — 9:53 pm ET (0153 GMT) ArkEdge Space and SSC Space Expand Cooperation Through Ground Segment Agreement and MoU
ArkEdge Space — 9:52 pm ET (0152 GMT) Ranking Members Lofgren and Amo Demand Answers After GAO Report Reveals Trump-Inflicted Damage to America’s Future Weather Satellites
House Science, Space and Technology Committee Democratic Caucus — 9:52 pm ET (0152 GMT) |
