By Dean Murray
Astronomers have captured a jaw-dropping picture of star that exploded twice.
It is the first time researchers have obtained visual evidence that a star met its end in a so-called "double detonation."
By studying the centuries-old remains of supernova SNR 0509-67.5 with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), they have found patterns that confirm its star suffered a pair of explosive blasts.
This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5. These are the expanding remains of a star that exploded hundreds of years ago in a double-detonation – the first photographic evidence that stars can die with two blasts. (ESO/Hubble/K. Noll, P. Das et al via SWNS)
Most supernovae happen when huge stars reach the end of their lives and explode, but another important kind of supernova comes from a relatively quieter source.
When compared to massive stars, white dwarfs —the small, dense remnants left behind when stars like our Sun run out of fuel—can appear small, faint, and inactive. However, they can also explode in what astronomers call a Type Ia supernova.
This image shows the distribution of calcium in the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5. The data were captured with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). The overlaid curves outline two concentric shells of calcium that were ejected in two separate detonations when the star died several hundred years ago. (ESO/P. Das et al. via SWNS)
Until now, there had been no clear, visual evidence of a white dwarf undergoing a double detonation, and the discovery shows some of the most important explosions in the Universe in a new light.
Priyam Das, a PhD student at the University of New South Wales Canberra in Australia, led the study published in Nature Astronomy on Wednesday (July 2).
This image marks the position on the sky of the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5, the expanding shells of a star that detonated twice. It is located 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small galaxy orbiting our own Milky Way. The inset shows new observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, which show that the original star died with two explosive blasts. The main image shows the VLT unit telescope used in these observations. (ESO/Hubble/K. Noll, P. Das et al via SWNS)
He said: "The explosions of white dwarfs play a crucial role in astronomy, yet, despite their importance, the long-standing puzzle of the exact mechanism triggering their explosion remains unsolved."
Type Ia supernovae are key to our understanding of the Universe as they behave in very consistent ways, and their predictable brightness — no matter how far away they are — helps astronomers to measure distances in space.
This artist’s impression illustrates the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5. Observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) show that these are the expanding remains of a star that died with a double-detonation hundreds of years ago. (ESO/M. Kornmesser via SWNS)
Using them as a cosmic measuring tape, astronomers discovered the accelerating expansion of the Universe, a discovery that won the Physics Nobel Prize in 2011. Researchers say studying how they explode helps us to understand why they have such a predictable brightness.
Priyam Das said, "This tangible evidence of a double-detonation not only contributes towards solving a long-standing mystery, but also offers a visual spectacle."
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