Star dies in brightest supernova

Analoguesat

A massive star about 150 times the size of the Sun exploded in what could be a long-sought new type of supernova, Nasa scientists have said.
Supernovae occur when huge, mature stars effectively run out of fuel and collapse in on themselves.

But scientists believe this one was obliterated in an explosion which blasted all its material into space.

And astronomers say a star in our own Milky Way galaxy could be about to perform the same celestial fireworks.

The supernova star, called SN 2006gy, was originally discovered in September last year.

The explosion was seen to peak for about 70 days, during which it is thought to have shone about five times more brightly than any supernova seen in the past.

"Of all exploding stars ever observed, this was the king," Alex Filippenko, one of the Nasa-backed astronomers observing the phenomenon, said.


BBC News Full report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6633609.stm

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dig deep

So, it was not the moon then

2cvbloke

I wanted to see pics of it!!! Not an artist's impression!!!

Typical BBC, it's always artist's impressions which look nothing like the real thing...

Channel Hopper

_http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/sn2006gy/more.html

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

2cvbloke

Now why didn't the BBC have those pics on their website??

Channel Hopper

They should employ some of us to make their site worthy

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

2cvbloke

They're probably too busy counting the money they've made with the TV licence...

dig deep

Some nice pics there mate

Sorry to say but they are old now, some 11K years (or more)