supernova explosion tagged posts

Hubble Captures 1st-ever Predicted Exploding Star

This image composite shows the search for the supernova, nicknamed Refsdal, using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The image to the left shows a part of the the deep field observation of the galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223 from the Frontier Fields program. The circle indicates the predicted position of the newest appearance of the supernova. To the lower right the Einstein cross event from late 2014 is visible. The image on the top right shows observations by Hubble from October 2015, taken at the beginning of observation program to detect the newest appearance of the supernova. The image on the lower right shows the discovery of the Refsdal Supernova on Dec. 11, 2015, as predicted by several different models. Credit: NASA & ESA and P. Kelly (University of California, Berkeley)

This image composite shows the search for the supernova, nicknamed Refsdal, using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The image to the left shows a part of the the deep field observation of the galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+2223 from the Frontier Fields program. The circle indicates the predicted position of the newest appearance of the supernova. To the lower right the Einstein cross event from late 2014 is visible. The image on the top right shows observations by Hubble from October 2015, taken at the beginning of observation program to detect the newest appearance of the supernova. The image on the lower right shows the discovery of the Refsdal Supernova on Dec. 11, 2015, as predicted by several different models. Credit: NASA & ESA and P. Kelly (University of California, Berkeley)

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Gaia Satellite has discovered a rare Binary System where one star is ‘eating’ the other, but neither star has hydrogen, the most common element in the Universe

IMAGE: Artist's impression of Gaia14aae. Credit: Marisa Grove/Institute of Astronomy

IMAGE: Artist’s impression of Gaia14aae.
Credit: Marisa Grove/Institute of Astronomy

It is a type of 2-star system known as a Cataclysmic Variable, where one super dense white dwarf star is stealing gas from its companion star, effectively ‘cannibalising’ it.The system could also be an important laboratory for studying ultra-bright supernova explosions, which are a vital tool for measuring the expansion of the Universe. The system, named Gaia14aae, is 730 light years away in Draco constellation. It was discovered by the ESA’s Gaia satellite in August 2014 when it suddenly became 5 times brighter over the course of a single day.

>>Additional observations made by the Center for Backyard Astrophysics (CBA), a collaboration of amateur and professional astronomers, found the system is a rare e...

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