astronomers zoom in on megastars juvenile outburst in a spectacular explosion
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Astronomers zoom in on megastar's juvenile outburst in a spectacular explosion

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Astronomers zoom in on megastar's juvenile outburst in a spectacular explosion

A handout photo released on February 9, 2017
Paris - AFP

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, a supergiant red star ended its life in a spectacular explosion known as a supernova.

The light from that event took 160 million years to reach Earth where, in a stroke of luck, robot telescopes scanning the night sky happened upon it on October 6, 2013.

On Monday, astronomers said the chance discovery allowed them to study the earliest phase of a supernova yet -- just three hours after it erupted.

"We immediately knew that what we have in hand is extremely unique," Ofer Yaron of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, lead author of a study in the journal Nature Physics, told AFP.

"We managed to observe this event when (it was) very young."

The supernova was named SN 2013fs.

Scientists are keen to study the early phases of supernovae, seeking insights into the moments just before massive stars expire in such dramatic fashion.

But without knowing when and where in the vast Universe a supernova will occur, they are rarely spotted before they are already several days old and most of the debris has dispersed.

Supernovae are normally observable over a time scale of about a year, but their peak brightness lasts between several days and several weeks, said Yaron.

Until recently, catching a supernova a week after detonation was considered early.

- Teamwork -

The light of massive stars and their explosions can take several millions or billions of years to reach Earth. 

In the case of SN 2013fs, the light's 160-million-year trip was snared by an automated scan by the Palomar Observatory near San Diego, California, which is constantly looking for new astrophysical events.

A human eye spotted the celestial anomaly in telescope readings soon afterwards, and alerted other astronomers and physicists to train their instruments on the event to determine its distance, composition, temperature and other traits.

Among others, spectroscopic measurements of the light intensity were obtained from the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, and UV and X-ray readings from NASA's Swift satellite.

Yaron and a team assembled the data to reconstruct a picture of the moments before the star's dazzling demise.

They caught the event so early, said the scientists, they could still observe the presence of material expelled by the dying star in its final year of life, forming a dense shell around it.

This hinted at instability in the dying moments of the star, which they concluded had been a red supergiant.

The supernova it caused was a "regular" type, suggesting that "pre-supernova instabilities may be common among exploding massive stars," the team wrote.

If massive stars are unstable in the months before they die, their structure may be different than assumed so far -- something that has implications for modelling of the explosion process, said Yaron.

 

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

astronomers zoom in on megastars juvenile outburst in a spectacular explosion astronomers zoom in on megastars juvenile outburst in a spectacular explosion

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

astronomers zoom in on megastars juvenile outburst in a spectacular explosion astronomers zoom in on megastars juvenile outburst in a spectacular explosion

 



GMT 20:53 2018 Monday ,22 October

PM Imran Khan to leave for Saudi Arabia today

GMT 08:20 2018 Tuesday ,16 January

Lamborghini races to new sales record

GMT 00:19 2017 Wednesday ,13 December

Switzerland chainsaw attack: 5 hurt in Schaffhausen

GMT 09:51 2017 Tuesday ,07 November

Broadcom makes $130 bn mega-bid

GMT 20:53 2017 Tuesday ,07 March

Syrian forces retake Aleppo water-pumping station

GMT 11:15 2017 Monday ,01 May

Hanan Metawe reveals details of her accident

GMT 03:07 2017 Monday ,27 March

Bulgaria's Borisov bounces back again

GMT 22:18 2017 Thursday ,16 November

Hariri to arrive in France Saturday to meet Macron

GMT 06:43 2017 Monday ,13 February

Pakistan retaliates after US denies politician visa

GMT 07:49 2017 Tuesday ,28 November

Hussein Fahmy underlines financial sources
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday