Mother Nature Network

Hubble finds most distant supernova

By analyzing star explosions, scientists can get a sense of how quickly the universe was seeded with the elements needed to create planets and other cosmic bodies.

New type of tiny supernovas discovered

Type Iax supernovas seem to occur in binary star systems as a companion star siphons off another star’s helium.

Oldest, farthest supernova explosions discovered
Super-luminous supernovae are the ‘bringers of death or the bringers of life to stars.’

In supernova explosions, red giants are the ‘gasoline’
Type 1a supernovas are ideal for measuring cosmic distances due to their consistent brightness.

Supernova may have triggered formation of our solar system
Finger-like indentations in a solar nebula’s clouds injected radioactive isotopes that would become the building blocks of the solar system.

Supernova blasts revealed in spiral galaxy image
Astronomers studied the galaxy’s 2007 supernova explosion over the course of a year.

New photo sheds light on supernova remnant
The supernova has likely become a pulsar, and has created a cocoon of fast-moving charged particles around it called a pulsar wind nebula.

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How Supernovas Formed Heavier Elements

With knowledge of the Big Bang creating lighter elements, such as hydrogen and helium, the question then becomes, “Where did the heavier elements come from?” Astrophysicists have believed that these heavier elements were created by supernova explosions. Due to the complexities of supernovae, astrophysicists have had difficulties making realistic computer simulations. However, recent experiments suggest that “astrophysicists are using the wrong data in their models” and that the “new results may have a great impact.”

In hopes to have a better understanding of supernova explosions and the formation of elements in supernovae, nuclear physicists at the University of Oslo measured the energy states of the elements iron and molybdenum.

In one of the experiments, the nuclear physicists shoot at a target consisting of iron, with helium ions. When a huge amount of energy is given to the iron nuclei, the protons and neutrons of the iron core are pushed into a new orbit. In the second experiment, helium is shot at molybdenum.

The atomic nuclei become highly excited and emit electromagnetic radiation. This radiation can be measured. The characteristics of the atomic nucleus appear to be different to what was previously thought.

In addition, nuclear physicist Ann-Cecilie Larsen points out,

We do not know what happens when nuclear reactions in supernova explosions move beyond the table of isotopes. In a matter of seconds, many exotic atoms are formed that do not exist on Earth and which quickly transform into stable elements. Since we have no data on these exotic nuclei, the astrophysicists have to make many assumptions about their properties.

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Image courtesy of NASA

Scientists find answer to supernova riddle
The discovery of a supernova hours after its explosion solved a long-standing mystery on the origin of the brightest known phenomena in the universe.

Supernova is brightest in decades
Scientists are calling a star that exploded 21 million years ago in a neighboring galaxy the supernova of a generation. Its blaze will continue to brighten until Wednesday or Thursday, visible just above the handle of the Big Dipper to backyard astronomers with binoculars.