US EditionTwo Dead Stars Found Just 150 Light Years Away Will Explode 10x Brighter Than the Moon
- Astronomers at Warwick University reported discovering a binary star system about 150 light years from Earth.
- White dwarf binary systems are theorized to produce most type 1a supernova explosions, which are used to map the universe.
- The two stars orbit each other every 14 hours and are very close, only 1/60th of the Earth-Sun distance apart.
- James Munday stated he was excited when he spotted the system with a very high total mass, as reported in *Nature Astronomy*.
- In approximately 23 billion years, the stars will collide and explode as a type 1a supernova, briefly shining ten times brighter than the moon.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Star-crossed white dwarf pair doomed to explode on our doorstep
An extremely rare binary system involving high-mass white dwarf stars just 150 light-years away are on a collision course. When they collide, the type 1a supernova explosion will be 10 times brighter than the Moon. The discovery of the doomed pair is described in a paper published in Nature Astronomy. Type 1a supernovae are referred to as “standard candles” because astronomers know the brightness of these explosions. They are used by cosmologist…
Stunning image of planet-destroying star at the heart of a nebula
For over forty years, astronomers have been baffled by X-rays from the white dwarf at the center of the Helix Nebula. A white dwarf is the remnant of a star that has shed its outer layers to form a nebula. They do not ordinarily emit X-rays, but observations by Chandra and other X-ray telescopes have detected regular X-ray emissions for decades. — Read the rest The post Stunning image of planet-destroying star at the heart of a nebula appeared f…
A super-Chandrasekhar mass type Ia supernova progenitor at 49 pc set to detonate in 23 Gyr
Double white dwarf binaries are a leading explanation of the origin of type Ia supernovae, but no system exceeding the Chandrasekhar mass limit (1.4 M⊙) has been found that will explode anywhere close to a Hubble time. Here we present the super-Chandrasekhar mass double white dwarf WDJ181058.67+311940.94 whose merger time (22.6 ± 1.0 Gyr) is of the same order as a Hubble time. The mass of the binary is large, combining to 1.555 ± 0.044 M⊙, while…
Astronomers find spiraling stars heading towards a rare cosmic explosion
There is a “doomed pair of spiraling stars” swirling only 150 light-years away from Earth–practically our neighbor in space terms. The stars in this rare high mass and compact binary star system are on a collision course with one another that should result in a special kind of supernova. Astronomers expect them to explode as a type 1a supernova that will one day shine 10 times brighter than our moon. The discovery is detailed in a study publishe…
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