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3rd March 2023 (6 Topics)

Supernova and effects

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 a 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.

Tycho Supernova (Death of a Star):

  • In 1572, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe was among those who noticed a new bright object in the constellation Cassiopeia.
  • Tycho showed this “new star” was far beyond the Moon, and that it was possible for the universe beyond the Sun and planets to change.
  • Rather it signalled the death of a star in a supernova, an explosion so bright that it can outshine the light from an entire galaxy.
  • This particular supernova was a Type Ia, which occurs when a white dwarf star pulls material from or merges with, a nearby companion star until a violent explosion is triggered. The white dwarf star is obliterated, sending its debris hurtling into space.

What does a Supernova mean?

  • 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 when there is a change in the core, or centre, 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 supernova play a key role in distributing elements throughout the universe.
  • When the star explodes, it shoots elements and debris into space. Many of the elements we find here on Earth are made in the core of stars.
  • These elements travel on to form new stars, planets and everything else in the universe.

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