Up to half of the calcium in the Universe – and that includes our bones and teeth – is thought to come from exploding supernova stars, and researchers have now gained an incredible insight into how these ultra rare, calcium-rich supernovae end up reach of her life.
The never before seen how these stellar explosions emit so much calcium was performed with X-rays and infrared imaging with deep space, and fills many of the gaps in our scientific knowledge about the process.
By drawing contributions from 67 authors in 15 countries, the resulting study suggests that the calcareous Rhine supernovae begin as compact stars that quickly lose mass at the end of their life, emitting an outer layer of gas that collides with explosive materials.
(Aaron M. Geller, Northwestern University)
“These events are so few in number that we never knew what produced calcium-rich supernovae,” says astrophysicist Wynn Jacobson-Galan, of Northwestern University.
“By observing what this star did in the last month, before it reached its critical, tumultuous end, we peered into a place that had not been explored before, and opened new avenues for study within transient science.”
The supernova in question, SN 2019ehk, was first detected by amateur astronomer Joel Shepherd in the spiral galaxy Messier 100 (M100) about 55 million light-years away from Earth. Very soon after the discovery was made, most of the Earth’s most important telescopes followed it – with advancing events like this, speed is crucial.
What astronomers did not expect was the brightness of the X-ray light that SN 2019ehk gave. Scientists soon realized they were looking at a flood of high-energy X-rays flowing from the star and hitting the outer shell of gas, providing important clues as to the materials it had forgotten and how much of the material was over there.
The dying star’s readings helped scientists work out what happened: the reactions between the dispersed materials and the outer gas ring produced intense hot temperatures and high pressure, leading to a lime-producing nuclear reaction as the star tries its heat and energy so rap possible.
“Most massive stars produce small amounts of calcium during their lifetime, but events such as SN 2019ehk appear to be responsible for producing large amounts of calcium and in the process of exploding it spread through interstellar space within galaxies,” says astronomer Régis Cartier, of the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) in the US.
“Ultimately, this calcium is making its way into the formation of planetary systems, and into our bodies in the case of our Earth!”
It’s because these stars are so important in lime production that scientists have been so eager to look at them – something that has been proven difficult (even Hubble missed SN 2019ehk). The explosion at the center of the new study is responsible for the most calcium ever emitted in a single observed astrophysical event.
By looking at the inner workings of this kind of supernova, new areas of research will open up and give us a better idea of how the calcium in our bones and teeth – and everywhere else in the Universe – came to be.
It is also a great example of the international scientific community working together to record and record something of great importance. Just 10 hours after the initial bright burst in the sky was detected by Joel Shepherd, some of the best telescopes we have ready to record what happened next.
“Before this event, we had indirect information about what calcium-rich supernovae may or may not be,” says astrophysicist Raffaella Margutti, of Northwestern University. “Now we can confidently rule out various possibilities.”
The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal.
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