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    Trigger for Milky Way’s Youngest Supernova identified

    March 31, 2016, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Supernova G1.9+0.3. Credit: NASA/CXC/CfA/S. Chakraborti et al.

    Supernova G1.9+0.3. Credit: NASA/CXC/CfA/S. Chakraborti et al.

    Scientists have used data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the NSF’s Jansky Very Large Array to determine the likely trigger for the most recent supernova in the Milky Way. They applied a new technique that could have implications for understanding other Type Ia supernovas, a class of stellar explosions that scientists use to determine the expansion rate of the Universe.

    Astronomers had previously identified G1.9+0.3 as the remnant of the most recent supernova in our Galaxy, Type Ia category. It is estimated to have occurred about 110 years ago in a dusty region of the Galaxy that blocked visible light from reaching Earth...

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    Some Dying Stars, White Dwarfs, suffer from ‘Irregular Heartbeats.’

    August 26, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Diagnostics of the pulsations before (red), during (green) and after (blue) the seventh outburst observed on PG 1149+057. The top panel shows the K2 light curve, while the bottom panels show the FT of each subset. Signals exceeding the significance thresholds (see text) are marked with appropriate-colored dots and show differences in the excited pulsation spectra. Amplitudes are essentially all lower after outburst, but subsequently grow (see Figure 5). Significant pulsations are also visible during the brightening event (green squares), and appear at shorter periods (higher frequencies) and higher amplitudes. The top right panel shows the window function of each subset. Credit: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1507.06319.pdf

    Diagnostics of the pulsations before (red), during (green) and after (blue) the seventh outburst observed on PG 1149+057. The top panel shows the K2 light curve, while the bottom panels show the FT of each subset. Signals exceeding the significance thresholds (see text) are marked with appropriate-colored dots and show differences in the excited pulsation spectra. Amplitudes are essentially all lower after outburst, but subsequently grow (see Figure 5). Significant pulsations are also visible during the brightening event (green squares), and appear at shorter periods (higher frequencies) and higher amplitudes. The top right panel shows the window function of each subset. Credit: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1507.06319.pdf

    Research confirms rapid brightening events in otherwise normal pulsating whi...

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