Dead star exploding in a blaze of glory

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Integral catches dead star exploding in a blaze of glory

27 August 2014 Astronomers using ESA’s Integral gamma-ray observatory have demonstrated beyond doubt that dead stars known as white dwarfs can reignite and explode as supernovae. The finding came after the unique signature of gamma rays from the radioactive elements created in one of these explosions was captured for the first time.

The explosions in question are known as Type Ia supernovae, long suspected to be the result of a white dwarf star blowing up because of a disruptive interaction with a companion star. However, astronomers have lacked definitive evidence that a white dwarf was involved until now. The ‘smoking gun’ in this case was evidence for radioactive nuclei being created by fusion during the thermonuclear explosion of the white dwarf star.

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[seeder]

Cool pics! Gotta luv the Universe... always new surprises

[Astra.]

Beautiful pictures....I have a gorgeous image of a supernovae on my desktop....astounding and amazing stuff going on out there in space.

[JVG]

The photos were awesome...

[FollowTheTrail]

Amazing pictures!

[ancient astronaut]

The wonders of the universe never cease to amaze.

[FizzPuff]

That's pretty awesome.

[Likely Guy]

This news is 11.5 million years old. We live in a time machine.

[Starhunter]

When pictures of various novas began to be published, scientists did not know whether the stars were exploding, being born or reforming. It seems like we are going back to square one where we assumed that an explosion of a star is just a regular cycle of stars, as are pulsars and any other variation of activity.