Researchers from the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators, have lately made progress in the study of the electron-capture rates of the 93Nb by using the charge-exchange reaction, which sheds light on core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe). Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-03-charge-exchange-reaction-core-collapse-supernovae.html…
Tag: supernovae
Cheery thoughts for a scary time
Some astronomy thoughts to distract you from quarantine life under the coronavirus plague, from Guy Ottewell. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/cheery-astronomy-thought-for-a-scary-time…
Physicists model the supernovae that result from pulsating supergiants like Betelgeuse
Betelgeuse has been the center of significant media attention lately. The red supergiant is nearing the end of its life, and when a star over 10 times the mass of the Sun dies, it goes out in spectacular fashion. With its brightness recently dipping to the lowest point in the last hundred years, many space enthusiasts are excited that Betelgeuse may…
How astronomers are piecing together the mysterious origins of superluminous supernovae
When a massive star reaches the end of its life, it can explode as a supernova. But there’s a unique type of supernova that’s much brighter that we’re just starting to understand—and which may prove useful in measuring the universe. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-02-astronomers-piecing-mysterious-superluminous-supernovae.html…
VLT sees surface of dim Betelgeuse
The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope is in northern Chile. Astronomers used it to capture the unprecedented dimming of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion. The new images show how the apparent shape of this star is changing. Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/betelgeuse-dimming-supernova-new-vlt-images…
Mysterious fast radio burst repeats in 16-day rhythm
For the first time, a fast radio burst has been found to be repeating, in a regular 16-day cycle. The baffling detection from the CHIME radio telescope deepens the mystery of these bizarre intergalactic objects. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mysterious-fast-radio-burst-repeats-in-16-day-rhythm…
ISOLDE steps into unexplored region of the nuclear chart to study exotic isotopes
Many heavy elements, such as gold, are thought to form in cosmic environments rich in neutrons—think supernovae or mergers of neutron stars. In these extreme settings, atomic nuclei can rapidly capture neutrons and become heavier, creating new elements. At the far reaches of the nuclear chart, which arranges all known nuclei according to their number of protons and neutrons, lie unexplored…
BSNIP project releases spectra of more than 200 Type Ia supernovae
The Berkeley Supernova Ia Program (BSNIP) has released a dataset containing over 600 spectra of 242 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). The new data release, available for astronomers worldwide, was presented in a paper published January 9 on the arXiv pre-print repository. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-01-bsnip-spectra-ia-supernovae.html…
Astronomy Professor Challenges Study Suggesting Dark Energy Might Not Exist
Long-time Slashdot reader thomst quotes Phys.org: The most direct and strongest evidence for the accelerating universe with dark energy is provided by the distance measurements using type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) for the galaxies at high redshift. This result is based on the assumption that the corrected luminosity of SN Ia through the empirical standardization would not evolve with redshift. New…
These 2 stars in Sagitta will merge and explode by this century’s end
When the 2 stars in the binary star system V Sagittae come together – around the year 2083, astronomers say – they’ll create a star explosion called a nova. Then V Sagittae will temporarily outshine all the stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/v-sagittae-to-go-nova-around-2083…