A star that explodes twice? This space image is changing astronomy forever
New discoveries in science have shown that a star does indeed have the potential to explode on more than one occasion.
Astronomers have finally captured the first-ever visual proof of a star exploding twice before its final demise. Using European Southern Observatory‘s brilliantly named Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile and the spectroscopic MUSE instrument — not named after the band — researchers observed the remnants of white dwarf supernova SNR 0509‑67.5 outside our galaxy.
Published in Nature Astronomy, the team of scientists discovered this remnant carries a chemical fingerprint that matches a “double detonation” — a rare and dramatic two-stage explosion that has been found to be from a white dwarf in a binary system.
A white dwarfs are, according to the ESO, “inactive core regions left over when stars like our Sun have burned through their nuclear fuel” and they can produce what astronomers call a Type Ia supernova.
It was previously thought that in this binary system, as the two stars spin ferociously around one another, that one of the stars collects material from its comrade until it reaches a critical mass, at which point it explodes.
However, new evidence shows otherwise: that at least some Type Ia supernova go through what is called “double detonation mechanism” — they explode twice.
“In this alternative model,” writes the ESO, “the white dwarf forms a shell of stolen helium around itself, which can become unstable and ignite. This initial explosion creates a shock wave that propagates around the white dwarf and inward, triggering a second detonation in the star’s core—ultimately creating the supernova.”
“The explosions of white dwarfs play a crucial role in astronomy,” explained Priyam Das, a doctoral student at the University of New South Wales Canberra in Australia, who led the study of SNR 0509-67.5.
Did you know?
Much of our knowledge about the expansion of the universe comes from Type Ia supernovae, which are also the main source of the iron on our planet, including the iron in our blood.
— ESO
SNR 0509-67.5
— Kamil (@kamil_de_sailor) October 14, 2023
SNR 0509-67.5 is a remnant from a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), that is 160,000 light years away in the constellation Dorado. It displays a clear shock wave shock shell pattern.
It was probably a type Ia supernova, as indicated by the detection in… pic.twitter.com/P5Xo1gv8k9
Yet despite their importance, the long-standing mystery of the exact mechanism that triggers such an explosion remains unsolved." Studies suggested that there should have been two calcium shells, a prediction that now appears to have been confirmed.
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