Supernovae are some the brightest and most powerful events in our galaxy. These occur once stars that have a lot of greater mass than that of our sun explode; they become incredibly bright, and so slowly fade over the course of some months as they lose energy. under the terms of how we traditionally understand the life cycle of a star, a supernova inevitably means that stellar death. Or does it? Astronomers working at Hawaii’s Keck Observatory have found a star that refuses to die.
The supernova, named iPTF14hls, has exploded multiple times over the last fifty years. instead of giving into death in the cold wastes of space, this singular star is apparently during a cycle of regularly absorbing matter, collapsing and exploding. The team 1st took note of the star in 2014 because it had gone supernova and was starting to fade. But then, some months later, the team noticed that the star was becoming brighter again.
When the astronomers checked out records, they noticed that a supernova had occurred at that same location in 1954. Only the star has not survived but also began to explode again in 2014. “This supernova breaks everything we thought we know about the work they do. it is the biggest puzzle I’ve encountered in almost a decade of finding out stellar explosions,” Iair Arcavi, the lead author of the study (which was published in Nature) said in a press release.
It’s not clear why this star refuses to die, but it could have something to do with its size. It’s a minimum of fifty times more large than our own star. Our conventional rules concerning how stars work may not apply to something of that size. This starbursts in its sphere, and explosions a hypothetical effect on its extreme mass and temperature. Regardless of the reason, we appreciate this star’s retreat
The star could even have antimatter at its core that fuels its cycle of explosions, a hypothesized results of its extreme mass and temperature. regardless of the reason, we admire this star’s resilience
