|
Premature Supernovae Wednesday, May 06, 2009 - Janice Karin Home >> News >> Space   
|
|
|
Researchers at the Yunnan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have come to a conclusion as to why some Type Ia supernovae explode earlier than expected. Observations have shown that about half of all Type Ia supernovae occur less than 100 million years after their galaxies' formations - much earlier than deemed possible by previous causal models. Dr. Bo Wang and his team believe these early supernovae are the result of a white dwarf star siphoning matter from a nearby helium star.
|
|||||
The team at Yunnan Observatory looked at 2600 white dwarfs and nearby companion star pairs using the Eggleston stellar evolution modeling system. They discovered that the white dwarfs reach the critical mass for fusion and the subsequent explosion within an earlier time frame when the companion star is a helium star. Such early supernovae formation is important because it affects the amount of iron and other heavy metals found in the interstellar medium, subsequently changing the expected chemical balance. This in turn alters models of galactic evolution which are based on combination of the system's dynamics and chemistry. The abundance of different chemical elements is also used by cosmologists as a distance indicator, and therefore changing the chemical model may lead to significant changes in our understanding of large scale structures of the universe. According to the scientists, the next step in their research is modeling the properties of companion helium stars, particularly after the supernovae explode. Wang’s team intends to work on mathematical models of the stars’ behavior, which hopefully could later be verified by the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectral Telescope (LAMOST). TFOT has previously written a number of interesting articles on supernovae, including one on the brightest supernova explosion ever seen, the largest supernova ever seen, and a gamma ray pulsar found in the remains of an old supernova. You are also welcome to check out our article on a supernova that lies only 12 million light years away and is thus ideal for future research, and a coverage of the first direct observation of a supernova exploding. Detailed information regarding the discovery can be obtained in the full text version of Dr. Wang's paper (PDF) at Cornell University Library's archive of scientific papers. Image icon credit: Chandra X-Ray Observatory |
|||||
|
| Related Pictures |
|
Underground Water on Saturn's Moon |
|
NASA Tests Rover Concepts in Arizona |
| Other Articles |
|
Green Computing |
|
The Rise of the Phoenix |
|
|
|||
|
|||
|
Gucci Handbags as the classic of Italian brand, has celebrated 70 years of the world.Because of the practical and simple design,the Gucci handbag is very popular for many people.From the designe of Gucci, you can feel, it don\'t need to show off strong,Women\'s Handbags but also can be a resolute insistence.Gucci Handbag is combines with the classic Gucci design handbags and Expensive and scarce leather.It embodies the timeless aesthetic criteria of the brand perfectly. |
