This image of SNR 0509-75.5 was taken with the very large multi-unity spectroscopic explorer of ESO. This tool allows astronomers to map the distribution of chemical elements. Here, football is shown as blue. The two visible concentric shells show that the original star has exploded twice. Credit: ESO/p. Das et al. Stars Sterfe (Hubble): K. Noll et al.
Takeaway Keyway:
- A star has exploded twice, an absolute first observation.
- This type of supernova creates two distinct calcium layers.
- The explosion took place before the star reached its maximum mass.
- “This tangible test of a double detonation not only contributes to the resolution of a longtime mystery, but also offers a visual show,” said Priyam Das.
In an extraordinary image ever, astronomers saw a star who died exploding twice. They indicated the very large telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) (VLT) at the Supernova Snr 0509-67.5, located inside the large wagellanic cloud, a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way in the distant constellation in the south of Dorado, the swordfish. When they examined the image, he showed patterns that confirm that his star suffered a couple of explosive explosions.
Most supernovae are the explosive death of huge stars. The type IA supernova, however, originates with white dwarfs, the small inactive nuclei left after the stars like our sun exhausts their nuclear fuel. The explosions of these stars are the primary source of the iron element on earth.
“The explosions of Nani Bianchi play a crucial role in astronomy”, says Priyam Das, a doctoral student at the University of New South Wales Canberra, Australia, who led the study on SNR 0509-67.5 published today in Astronomy of nature. Much of our knowledge of how the universe expands is based on the type IA supernova. “Yet, despite their importance, the longtime puzzle of the exact mechanism that triggers their explosion remains unresolved,” he adds.
Supernovae type ia begins as a white dwarf being a component in a system of binary stars. If orbit orbit enough close to his partner, the dwarf can steal material from his partner. The white dwarf continues to collect material until it reaches a critical mass, at that point it explodes. This is what everyone thought. However, recent studies show that some type IA supernovae could be better explained by a double explosion.
The new image of SNR 0509-67.5 shows that at least some supernova ia exploded twice. In this model, the white dwarf forms a layer around himself of Elio who took his partner. If that layer becomes unstable and turns on, the explosion generates an impact wave that travels around the white dwarf and inward. This triggers a second detonation in the nucleus of the star: the supernova.
Until now, there have been no visual tests of a white dwarf subjected to two explosions. Recently, astronomers have foreseen that this process would create a supernova residue with two separate shells rich in football. SNR 0509-67.5 has these two shells. In the image, they appear as blue.
Ivo Sietenzahl, who led the observations and was at the Heidelberg Institute for the theoretical studies when the study was conducted, states that these results show “a clear indication that the white dwarfs can explode well before reaching the famous mass limit of Chandrasekhar and that the” double distinction “mechanism really occurs in nature”. The team detected the layers of football by observing the supernova residue with the multi -unit spectroscopic explorer on the VLT of Eso.
The supernovae type behaves in a coherent way and their predictable brightness helps astronomers to measure distances in space. Using them as a cosmic measurement ribbon, astronomers discovered that the universe was expanding, a discovery that won the physical Nobel Prize in 2011. Studying how they explode helps us understand why they have such predictable brightness.
Das added: “This tangible test of a double detonation not only contributes to solving a long -standing mystery, but also offers a visual show”, he says, describing the “wonderfully stratified structure” that a supernova creates. For him, “revealing the internal mechanisms of such a spectacular cosmic explosion is incredibly rewarding”.
