supernova explosion – आवारा मुसाफिर

Missing link found: supernovae give rise to black holes or neutron stars

January 11, 2024487 Views

Astronomers have found a direct link between the explosive deaths of massive stars and the formation of the most compact and enigmatic objects in the Universe — black holes and neutron stars. With the help of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) and ESO’s New Technology Telescope (NTT), two teams were able to observe the aftermath of a supernova explosion in a nearby galaxy, finding evidence for the mysterious compact object it left behind. When massive stars reach the end of their lives, they collapse under their own gravity so rapidly that a violent explosion known as a supernova ensues. Astronomers believe that, after all the excitement of the explosion, what is left is the ultra-dense core, or compact remnant, of the star. Depending on how massive th...

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Potential First Traces of the Universe’s Earliest Stars

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

October 2, 2022190 Views

Gemini observation of distant quasar uncovers evidence of first-generation star that died in ‘super-supernova’ explosion The very first stars likely formed when the Universe was only 100 million years old, less than one percent its current age. These first stars — known as Population III — were so titanically massive that when they ended their lives as supernovae they tore themselves apart, seeding interstellar space with a distinctive blend of heavy elements. Despite decades of diligent searching by astronomers, however, there has been no direct evidence of these primordial stars, until now. By analyzing one of the most distant known quasars using the Gemini North telescope, one of the two identical telescopes that make up the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s N...