Context

A team of researchers has unveiled new light on the explosion of a star in a supernova more than 450 years ago using equipment by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

• The blast was visible to people on our planet way back in 1572.

Details of the study:

• The shock wave from the blast is still propagating through the cosmos from the initial explosion, meaning it can be observed from Earth even now. 
• The team used NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) to study polarised X-rays from the supernova remnant.
• Agencies involved: IXPE is collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries.
• Key findings: 
  • The blast from the supernova named Tycho released as much energy as the Sun would emit over ten billion years.
  • The explosion blasted particles out into space near the speed of light.
  • Researchers used IXPE to reveal the geometry of the magnetic fields close to Tycho’s shock wave. 
  • Understanding the magnetic field geometry allows scientists to investigate further how particles are accelerated there.
  • The overall direction of the magnetic fields in supernova remnants appears to be radial, stretched out along a path extending outward. 

What does a Supernova means?

• A supernova is the explosion of a star. It is the largest explosion that takes place in space.

Where Do Supernovas takes place?

• Supernovas are often seen in other galaxies. But supernovas are difficult to see in our own Milky Way galaxy because dust blocks our view.
• In 1604, Johannes Kepler discovered the last observed supernova in the Milky Way. 
• NASA’s Chandra telescope discovered the   remains of a more recent supernova. 
• It exploded in the Milky Way more than a hundred years ago.

What Causes a Supernova?

• A supernova happens where there is a change in the core, or center, of a star. 
• A change can occur in two different ways, with both resulting in a supernova.
• The first type of supernova happens in binary star systems. 

• • Binary stars are two stars that orbit the same point. One of the stars, a carbon-oxygen white dwarf, steals matter from its companion star. 
  • Eventually, the white dwarf accumulates too much matter. Having too much matter causes the star to explode, resulting in a supernova.

• The second type of supernova occurs at the end of a single star’s lifetime. 

• • As the star runs out of nuclear fuel, some of its mass flows into its core. Eventually, the core is so heavy that it cannot withstand its own gravitational force. 
  • The core collapses, which results in the giant explosion of a supernova. 
  • The sun is a single star, but it does not have enough mass to become a supernova.

Significance: 

• One kind of supernova has shown scientists that we live in an expanding universe, one that is growing at an ever increasing rate.
• Scientists also have determined that supernovas play a key role in distributing elements throughout the universe.