Astronomers discover new type of supernova

4 Jul 2021

Image depicting supernova as in astronomers discover new type

Astronomers discover new type of supernova

Astronomers discover new type of supernovaA supernova is the explosion of a star at the end of its life cycle. It is the largest explosion that takes place in space.

Scientists have known about two types of supernovas till now. One is a core-collapse supernova, which happens when a massive star, about 10 times the mass of our Sun, runs out of fuel. Then, its core collapses into a black hole or neutron star. The second is a thermonuclear supernova, which occurs when a white dwarf star explodes. This happens to stars less than eight times the mass of our Sun.

However, what about stars that are in between the sizes described above?  In 1980, a scientist named Kenichi Nomoto predicted a third type of supernova called an "electron-capture supernova". And it turns out, he was right!
How did they discover this?
In March 2018, a Japanese man, Koichi Itagaki, observed a supernova named 2018zd. It happened about 31 million light-years from Earth.

Scientists then studied the event and they found that 2018zd was an electron-capture supernova. What happens in this is that, as the star's core loses fuel, gravitational forces push the core's electrons and fuse them with atomic nuclei. This triggers a collapse, leaving behind a dense neutron star, with a little more mass than our Sun.

This discovery also solves the mystery of how the Crab Nebula (above) formed. Scientists have long suspected that it formed due to an electron-capture supernova and now, they are quite sure.

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A supernova is the explosion of a star at the end of its life cycle. It is the largest explosion that takes place in space. […]

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