Star Meets Stunning End by Exploding Twice

Astronomers, for the first time, witnessed a star that meets an exciting end by explosion twice.

In a study published in Nature astronomy, The researchers analyzed the remains of the centuries dating back from Supernova SNR 0509-67.5 with the very large telescope of the southern European Observatory, where the first visual evidence of the “double tension” of the star was found.

Most of the super lines are the explosive result of the huge stars that collapse when nuclear fuel is exhausted. However, others come from the white dwarves, the inactive cores left by the smaller stars like our sun of fuel.

“The explosions of the white dwarves play an important role in astronomy,” said Priam Das, a PhD at the University of New South Wales Canberra, Australia and a co -author of the study. “However, despite its importance, the long -term puzzle of the exact mechanism that leads to its explosion is still unleashed.”

When they share the stars system with another star, white dwarves can produce what astronomers call the type Ia supernova. These super layers only occur in the dual stars systems, when a white dwarf, such as selfish brothers, steals a substance from its accompanying star until it grows into a critical mass. At this stage, the white dwarf becomes unstable, which leads to a huge explosion.

Recent studies hinted that these may not be the entire story. Astronomers have organized that there is no less than a type of type Ia supernovae that can actually be the result of no one or two explosions. In this scenario, the white dwarf blankets themselves in substances rich in helium were stolen by its partner star. This helium becomes unstable and explodes, and sends a shock wave across the inactive star. This leads to another explosion that begins in the heart of the star, which ultimately creates Supernova.

Astronomers have predicted that the double bombing will leave a unique imprint in Supernova remains, and for a long time after the initial explosion. So far, astronomers have no visual evidence of this fingerprint. But they finally managed to find some in the study of Supernova SNR 0509-67.5, taking into account this with the multi-unitary spectral analysis (Muse) on the very large telescope of the Southern European Observatory. The analysis allowed researchers to determine the distribution of different chemical elements, shown in the image as different colors. They clearly saw distinctive layers of calcium, arranged in the concentrated straw. These two layers offer evidence that the star suffered from explosions.

The results were “a clear indication that the white dwarves can explode before they reached the extent of the famous Chanderacekar, and that the mechanism of” double separation “has already occurred in nature,” said Evo Settzal, a researcher at the Heidelberg Institute for theoretical studies in Germany.

Besides being very cool, the type IA Supernovae type is also the key to studying the expansion of the universe and dark energy, because its consistent behavior and brightness that can be predicted can help astronomers measure distances in space.

As a reward, it’s a visual amazing. Das said in a statement: “This concrete evidence of the presence of a double hole that does not only contribute to solving a long -term puzzle, but also provides a visual scene,” describing the “Beautiful Classes” created by Supernova.