Supernova

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have spotted new evidence for what could trigger specific type of supernova explosion their finding provides a proof that a star can survive blasted off when a companion star goes supernova. The remnant of a supernova seen by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in 1572.

There are two main types of supernovae. One is massive star which is bigger than our sun burns all its nuclear fuel and collapses in on itself. Type Ia supernovae, however, are different. Smaller stars sooner or later turn into white dwarfs at the end of their lives, becoming an ultra-dense ball of carbon and oxygen about the size of the Earth, with the mass of our Sun. In some instances, ta white dwarf somehow ignites, creating an explosion so bright that it can be seen billions of light years away, across much of the Universe. But astronomers really haven’t understood what causes these explosions to start.





There are two popular theories: one scenario for Type Ia supernovas involves the fusion of two white dwarfs. In this case, no companion star or evidence for material blasted off a companion should exist. In the other theory, a white dwarf pulls material from a normal,or Sun-like, companion star until a thermonuclear explosion occurs.

The researchers analyses a deep Chandra observation of Tycho and establish an arc of X-ray emission in the supernova remnant. Evidence supports the conclusion that a shock wave created the arc when a white dwarf exploded and blew material off the surface of a nearby companion star. The new observations, however, support the latter one.