New Life in Dead Star: Supernova 'Changing Right Before Our Eyes'
By Ker Than
Staff Writer
posted: 24 July 2006
06:13 am ET
Newly detected dust found around the burst remains of a dead star could help reveal how planets and stars formed and how life began.
About 160,000 years ago, a star 20 times more massive than our sun erupted in a fiery explosion called a supernova. The star was located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy. In 1987, the first light from that catastrophic event reached Earth and for several months, the supernova, dubbed SN 1987A, blazed as brightly as 100 million suns before fading again.
Now, nearly two decades later, astronomers have detected dust particles around the supernova that they think formed before the star exploded. The new finding is the first evidence that star dust can survive a supernova explosion. It is also providing a rare glimpse into a process called "sputtering," in which dust is eroded by interactions with superheated gas.
I'm always excited about new finds in space. If you woul like to read the whole artical go here.
By Ker Than
Staff Writer
posted: 24 July 2006
06:13 am ET
Newly detected dust found around the burst remains of a dead star could help reveal how planets and stars formed and how life began.
About 160,000 years ago, a star 20 times more massive than our sun erupted in a fiery explosion called a supernova. The star was located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy. In 1987, the first light from that catastrophic event reached Earth and for several months, the supernova, dubbed SN 1987A, blazed as brightly as 100 million suns before fading again.
Now, nearly two decades later, astronomers have detected dust particles around the supernova that they think formed before the star exploded. The new finding is the first evidence that star dust can survive a supernova explosion. It is also providing a rare glimpse into a process called "sputtering," in which dust is eroded by interactions with superheated gas.
I'm always excited about new finds in space. If you woul like to read the whole artical go here.
posted by Joe | 3:16 AM
3 Comments:
Neat post Joe.The picture is awesome...very colorful.
Cheers,
I have just seen an awesome photograph of nacreous clouds taken by Australians at their meteorological base in Antarctica. It is a very rare site and these unusual clouds only form when temperatures drop lower than -80C. Things like this fascinate me.
Hope you are are having a good hump day.
Space just simply amazes me. As well as the fact that it is endless. Scary!
Post a Comment
<< Home