Posted on Wednesday, January 22, 2014
A supernova has exploded in the galaxy M82 in Ursa Major. Observations this far have shown it to be at around magnitude 11.5, making it a good sight for amateur astronomers with even small telescopes.
The first analysis of the supernova's spectrum show it to be of type Ia supernova, meaning it's a white dwarf star that has gathered mass from a possible companion in a binary system, until it reached the Chandrasekhar limit of 1.4 Solar masses, at which point the pressure from nuclear fusion in the dwarf star won't be able to fend of the collapse due to gravity and it explodes.
Astronomers from Caltech with Yi Cao in the lead suggest that the supernova might be about two weeks away from its peak brightness.
The first analysis of the supernova's spectrum show it to be of type Ia supernova, meaning it's a white dwarf star that has gathered mass from a possible companion in a binary system, until it reached the Chandrasekhar limit of 1.4 Solar masses, at which point the pressure from nuclear fusion in the dwarf star won't be able to fend of the collapse due to gravity and it explodes.
Astronomers from Caltech with Yi Cao in the lead suggest that the supernova might be about two weeks away from its peak brightness.
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