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Scientists have a good command of the life cycle of different stars. They know the types of stars likely to die in supernova explosions, and they know that not all supernova are created equal. Nevertheless, the space conceals many secrets and a new study published in The astrophysical journal reveals that scientists' understanding of the supernova has been questioned after seeing such a massive explosion that they initially thought their instruments were out of order.
The explosion in question, called SN2016iet, was detected for the first time in 2016, but it took another three years for astronomers to really understand what they were seeing.
"When we realized for the first time how unusual SN2016 was, my reaction was:" Something went wrong in our data? "" After a while, we determined that SN2016iet was an incredible mystery, located in an uncatalogued galaxy a billion light-years from Earth. "
Going back to what they saw of the current state of the star, the team determined that the explosion was created by a star 200 times more massive than our own Sun. The researchers think that he lost 85% of his mass during his brief existence, which eventually ended in a colossal detonation. The huge amount of material that the star has poured, as well as the explosion of the supernova itself, have created a show that has left scientists scratching their heads for years.
"Everything in this supernova has a different appearance: its change in brightness as a function of time, its spectrum, the galaxy in which it is located and even where it is in its galaxy", explains Professor Edo Berger. "We sometimes see supernovas that are unusual in one respect, but are otherwise normal. this one is unique in all respects. "
In the future, the team plans to continue to observe SN2016iet and, hopefully, to learn more about its past and future. This will be facilitated by the fact that the explosion was incredibly bright and located in a bare area of the sky. He could therefore teach us more.
Image Source: NASA / ESA
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