Space & Astronomy

Astronomers watch red supergiant star explode for the first time

By T.K. Randall
January 7, 2022 ·  13 comments

An artist's impression of the star. Image Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory / Adam Makarenko It's one of the most destructive events in the known universe - the demise of a supergiant star in the form of a colossal explosion of cosmic proportions - and now, for the first time, astronomers have been given a front-row seat to such an event happening right in front of their eyes.

The scientists first began to observe the star - which is situated 120 million light-years away in the NGC 5731 galaxy - back in summer 2020, but were surprised to discover a few months later that it had exploded.

By pulling together observations from multiple telescopes, the researchers were able to build up a picture of the supernova from before it exploded to a full year afterwards.

"This is a breakthrough in our understanding of what massive stars do moments before they die," said study lead author Wynn Jacobson-Galan from the University of California Berkeley."For the first time, we watched a red supergiant star explode!"

The team is now hoping to spot further examples to help them learn more about supernovae.

"It's like watching a ticking time bomb," said study senior author Raffaella Margutti.

"We've never confirmed such violent activity in a dying red supergiant star where we see it produce such a luminous emission, then collapse and combust, until now."

Source: Space.com | Comments (13)

Tags: Supernova