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Black Hole-Star Encounter Likely Sparked Rare Double-Peaked Supernova
- On July 7, 2023, astronomers identified a rare supernova called SN 2023zkd, located approximately 730 million light-years from Earth, using observations from a California-based sky survey project.
- The supernova's unusual behavior arose from a massive star locked in orbit with a black hole that siphoned material and destabilized the star, triggering its explosion.
- SN 2023zkd experienced an extended period of increasing brightness over roughly four years with intense precursor emissions before fading, then unexpectedly brightened again 240 days after its initial detection, exhibiting unusual behavior for a supernova.
- Lead author Alexander Gagliano described the findings as the most convincing proof so far that interactions with nearby companions can trigger a star’s explosion, while Ashley Villar emphasized the unmistakable signs of companion influence observed prior to the star's detonation.
- This discovery, published August 13 in the Astrophysical Journal, illustrates AI-driven detection advances and suggests astronomers will capture many such rare stellar deaths in the future.
48 Articles
48 Articles
A stellar explosion never before observed revealed what appears to be a new type of supernova, product of the encounter between a star and a black hole. Researchers published the finding on Wednesday 13th in The Astrophysical Journal.The SN 2023zkd supernova emerged after a failed attempt by a star to consume a black hole. Its detection occurred thanks to an artificial intelligence with an operation comparable to that of the Spotify algorithm, a…
There’s Something Really Suspicious About the Way This Star Died
Stellar death is a complex and mysterious process — but in the case of a supernova known as 2023zkd, things were more gruesome than any astronomer had ever seen before. As its name suggests, this supernova — the fabulous astronomical term for the explosive death of a star — was first spotted back in 2023, when Southern California's Zwicky Transient Facility zeroed in on it thanks to new AI algorithms designed to detect such brilliant blasts. Thi…
How AI helped astronomers uncover one truly weird supernova
Scientists have discovered a peculiar supernova that may have resulted from a star's misguided attempt to swallow a black hole.The new case, soon to be published in The Astrophysical Journal, supports the idea that massive stars don't just explode when they get old. Dramatic space collisions may trigger at least some of these fatal blasts, too. To find the exotic supernova, dubbed SN 2023zkd, astronomers used a new artificial intelligence algori…
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