Astronomers link space explosion to huge, mysterious star
They鈥檝e been identified as possible causes for supernovae for a while, but until now, there was a lack of evidence听linking massive听听to these star explosions. A new study was able to find a 鈥渓ikely鈥澨齦ink between this star type and a supernova called听SN 2013cu, however.
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鈥淲hen the听supernova听exploded, it flash ionized its immediate surroundings, giving the astronomers a direct glimpse of the progenitor star鈥檚 chemistry. This opportunity lasts only for a day before the听supernova blast wave sweeps the ionization away. So it鈥檚 crucial to rapidly respond to a young听supernova听discovery to get the flash spectrum in the nick of time,鈥� the Carnegie听Institution for Science wrote in a statement.
鈥淭he observations found evidence of composition and shape that aligns with that of a nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet star. What鈥檚 more, the progenitor star likely experienced an increased loss of mass shortly before the explosion, which is consistent with model predictions for Wolf-Rayet explosions.鈥�
The star type is known for lacking hydrogen (in comparison to other stars) 鈥� which makes it easy to identify spectrally 鈥� and being large (upwards of 20 times more massive than our Sun), hot and breezy, with fierce stellar winds that can reach more than 1,000 kilometres per second. This particular supernova was spotted by the听Palomar 48-inch telescope in California, and the 鈥渓ikely progenitor鈥� was found about 15 hours after the explosion.
Researchers also noted that the new technique, called 鈥渇lash spectroscopy鈥�, allows them to look at stars over a range of about 100 megaparsecs or听more than 325 million light years 鈥� about five times further than what previous observations with the Hubble Space Telescope revealed.
The research was听听It was led by听Avishay Gal-Yam of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Source: Carnegie Institution for Science
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听is the senior writer at Universe Today. She also works for Space.com, Space Exploration Network, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Astrobiology Magazine and LiveScience, among others. Career highlights include watching three shuttle launches, and going on a two-week simulated Mars expedition in rural Utah. You can follow her on Twitter听听or contact her at听.听
