Once it takes up about 1.44 times the mass of our solar system, it is hot enough to ignite carbon fusion and trigger the thermonuclear fugitive process. It leads to violent explosions that can eject matter up to 6 percent of the speed of light and cause 5 billion times higher brightness than the Sun.
Scientists know exactly how much light the type IA supernova produces, so they can use it as a “standard candle” to measure distances. By making a theoretical comparison with the observed brightness, they can accurately calculate the distance of the supernova and its accompanying galaxy. It will in turn add more data to calculate the Hubble stability or the rate of expansion of the universe.
When viewed next to NGC 2525, the supernova became brighter than the other stars in that galaxy. However, the explosion quickly subsided as the fuel ran out. NASA wrote in a blog post, “When a star emits as much energy in days as our sun in several billion years, you know it won’t be visible for long.”
