Red supergiant stars are quiet and unagitated before burst into Type II supernova — but not this one . The observation is important because it hint some supergiant stars get pregnant internal change before going supernova
The Type II supernova was find on Sept. 16 , 2020 , but astronomers had already been trail significant pre - explosion body process during the previous 130 day . In a W. M. Keck Observatorypress press release , Raffaella Margutti , an associate professor of astronomy at the University of California , Berkeley , sound out it was “ like look on a beat clock time bomb . ”
Type II supernovae result from the sudden collapse and violent explosion of massive ace . Only star between eight and around 40 astral masses undergo this form of death . “ We ’ve never confirm such crimson action in a dying red supergiant star where we see it produce such a luminous discharge , then collapse and combust , until now , ” said Margutti , the older author of the newstudy , bring out in the Astronomical Journal .
Artistic conception of a red supergiant star transitioning into a Type II supernova, in which it emits a violent eruption of radiation and gas prior to collapsing and exploding.Gif: W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko/Gizmodo
Indeed , the rare reflection is spill new light on the conditions and unconscious process affect in Type II supernova . “ This is a breakthrough in our discernment of what massive superstar do moment before they conk out , ” say Wynn Jacobson - Galán , the lead story author of the survey and an astronomer at the University of California , Berkeley . “ unmediated detection of pre - supernova activity in a red supergiant star has never been observe before in an ordinary Type II supernova . ”
The explosion , point SN 2020tlf , was detected by theYoung Supernova Experimenttransient resume , the purpose of which is to “ find statistical samples of unseasoned , red , and rarified transients [ id est short - lived supernal events ] , better understand black hole variability , and to constrain the fundamental cosmologic parameters of the world . ”
The squad used the Pan - STARRS scope and W. M. Keck Observatory , both in Hawaiʻi , to keep the carmine supergiant and subsequent supernova . Pan - STARRS , for a full stop of roughly 130 days , track the tremendous amounts of radiation decant off from the red supergiant , while Keck , with its Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer , tracked the supernova ’s first flash , initial spectrum , and post - supernova deportment .
SN 2020tlf is located 120 million light years away in galaxy NGC 5731 . The unredeemed whizz , at an estimated 10 to 12 solar masses , was smother by dense circumstellar material both before and at the sentence of the burst , agree to the new study .
The new observation suggests some supergiant ace get violent eruptions and bright explosion in the months and weeks prior to going supernova . Previous observation had suggested a stop of calm before the storm , but not all supergiant stars live their deaths in the same way , the new data suggests .
The detection of “ harbinger discharge , ” as the paper describes it , combined with the presence of thick circumstellar material , suggests some form of strong-arm mechanism is responsible for the observed mass loss and luminosity . At the same meter , the smart radiation bring on by the red supergiant during its final months “ suggests that at least some of these stars must undergo significant changes in their internal structure that then results in the riotous ejection of gas moments before they crock up , ” consort to the press release .
wait onward , researcher with the Young Supernova Experiment will now seek other good example of bright radiation coming from red supergiants , and then connect this demeanour to impending supernova explosion .
“ I am most excited by all of the unexampled ‘ unknown ’ that have been unlocked by this discovery , ” said Jacobson - Galán . “ detect more event like SN 2020tlf will dramatically touch how we delimitate the terminal months of stellar phylogeny , join observers and theorist in the quest to solve the mystery story on how monumental stars pass the final moments of their sprightliness . ”
More : This ‘ Unusual Star ’ Is Unlike Anything stargazer Have Seen Before
AstronomyLight sourcesPhysical sciencesStar typesStellar astronomyStellar evolutionSupernovae
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