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Scientists have discovered the brightest supernova explosion located near Earth. According to a CNN report, astronomers found the supernova at the Harvard Astrophysics Center and it is said to be bigger and brighter than any other supernova ever recorded. The study was a collaboration between Harvard University and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
(Photo: Pixabay)
Nearby supernova explosion: this is the brightest of all that all scientists say
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a supernova comes from the powerful explosion of a massive dying star that is approximately five times the size of the Sun. Huge stars tend to release large amounts of nuclear energy into their nuclei, increasing its temperature. The heat generated by the star creates external pressure that keeps it intact preventing it from collapsing or exploding.
However, the pressure created contradicts the star’s gravity. These forces compact it in the smallest and densest way possible. This situation causes the star to run out of energy. Its temperature and pressure drop give way to gravity. Gravity creates shock waves that cause the star’s outer shell to explode, causing it to collapse.
Nearby supernova explosion: scientists say this is the brightest of all
The CNN report stated that the superbright supernova was discovered by researchers in 2016, using data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) located at the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii. Pan-STARRS consists of astronomical cameras, telescopes, and a computer facility that collects data on objects outside the planet.
(Photo: screenshot from @NASA’s Twitter account)
Nearby supernova explosion: this is the brightest of all that all scientists say
The research team measured the discovered supernova using two scales: the first measured the total energy of the explosion, while the second focused on radiation emitted by the collapsed star. Radiation is the amount of energy created by the explosion in the form of light energy. The collected data was published on Monday, April 13 in the Journal Nature Astronomy.
A typical supernova emits light that has less than 1% of its energy. However, the newly discovered supernova, called SN2016aps, emitted radiation more than five times the explosive energy of an ordinary supernova. Astronomers observed the supernova for two years, and then discovered that its mass was 50 to 100 times larger than the Sun, compared to a normal-sized supernova that is 8 to 15 times larger.
Scientists continued to observe the supernova because, according to them, it was in the middle of nowhere. However, they discovered that it only appeared without celestial neighbors because the light it emits eclipses their galaxy.
According to Edo Berger, co-author of the study and professor of astronomy at Harvard University, the galaxy where the explosion was discovered currently has no name. The study confirmed that it is about four billion light-years away and is very similar to the two dwarf galaxies that orbit near the galaxy in the solar system, the Magellanic Clouds.
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