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Critical mass not needed for supernovae


Waspie_Dwarf

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Critical mass not needed for supernova explosions

Astronomers searching for clues about dark energy, the mysterious force that is speeding up the expansion of the Universe, have uncovered new evidence about the nature of supernovae, finding many are lighter than scientists had expected.

The findings, from an international team from the Nearby Supernova Factory project, overturn previous understanding of white dwarf stars and raise new questions about how these stars explode.

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I have a question Waspie...

How does the dark matter accelerate the expansion? Does it "repel" non-"dark" matter?

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I have a question Waspie...

How does the dark matter accelerate the expansion? Does it "repel" non-"dark" matter?

It's not dark matter they are talking about, it's dark energy.

As to the part it plays in a Type Ia Supernova explosion... I don't have the foggiest idea.

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So much for having a standard candle to give us distances to galaxies

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So much for having a standard candle to give us distances to galaxies

I'm not sure that this discovery will affect that adversely.

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I'm not sure that this discovery will affect that adversely.

You probably know a lot more about this than I do, but how can we be sure how far away a galaxy is if we can't be sure whether the standard candle is truly "standard"?
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  • 2 weeks later...

You probably know a lot more about this than I do, but how can we be sure how far away a galaxy is if we can't be sure whether the standard candle is truly "standard"?

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I looked up the information so that I could give you a correct reply and then forgot all about it.

The reason that these are used as standard candles is that there is a relationship between the colour and speed at which they fade and their brightness. Measuring the colour, timing the fading and measuring the apparent brightness as seen by us on Earth enables you to calculate distance to the supernova with an accuracy of about 10%.

This relationship is based on observational evidence, this new discovery does not change that.

This Berkeley Lab article gives more details: Standard-Candle Supernovae are Still Standard, but Why?

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