supernovae tagged posts

ONe novae stellar explosion may be source of our phosphorus

An artist’s impression of this research. (Credit: NAOJ) 

Astronomers have proposed a new theory to explain the origin of phosphorus, one of the elements important for life on Earth. The theory suggests a type of stellar explosion known as ONe novae as a major source of phosphorus.

After the Big Bang, almost all of the matter in the Universe was comprised of hydrogen.

Other elements were formed later, by nuclear reactions inside stars or when stars exploded in events known as novae or supernovae.

But there are a variety of stars and a variety of ways they can explode.

Astronomers are still trying to figure out which processes were important in creating the abundances of elements we see in the Universe.

In this study, Kenji Bekki, at The University of Western Australia, an...

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Space Oddity: Uncovering the Origin of the Universe’s Rare Radio Circles

Faint blue circles of light against a starry space background.
Odd radio circles, like ORC 1 pictured above, are large enough to contain galaxies in their centers and reach hundreds of thousands of light years across. (cr: Jayanne English / University of Manitoba)

Outflowing galactic winds from exploding stars may explain the enormous rings. Astronomers believe they may have found the origin of the universe’s giant odd radio circles: they are shells formed by outflowing galactic winds, possibly from massive exploding stars known as supernovae.

t’s not every day astronomers say, “What is that?” After all, most observed astronomical phenomena are known: stars, planets, black holes and galaxies...

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Deep Learning Speeds up Galactic Calculations

Four square images showing dark backgrounds with stars and galaxies
Divide and conquer. The upper images show a wide area of a galaxy being simulated. The time resolution is very low, in which each “step” of the simulation is around 100,000 years. The lower images show the specific area affected by a supernova explosion and have a finer time resolution where each step is under 10,000 years. These regions are combined with the more general simulation to improve the overall accuracy and efficiency of the simulation. ©2023 Hirashima et al., NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESO/R. Hunt/Hubble/L. Calçada CC-BY-ND

A new way to simulate supernovae may help shed light on our cosmic origins. Supernovae, exploding stars, play a critical role in the formation and evolution of galaxies...

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Using Supernovae to study Neutrinos’ Strange Properties

When supernovae explode, neutrinos from their core carry enormous amounts of energy in all directions.
Photo: Getty Images

New study offers hope to long-standing scientific problem. In a new study, researchers have taken an important step toward understanding how exploding stars can help reveal how neutrinos, mysterious subatomic particles, secretly interact with themselves.

One of the less well-understood elementary particles, neutrinos rarely interact with normal matter, and instead travel invisibly through it at almost the speed of light. These ghostly particles outnumber all the atoms in the universe and are always passing harmlessly through our bodies, but due to their low mass and lack of an electric charge they can be incredibly difficult to find and study.

But in a study p...

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