Astronomers have captured the moment a star, 500 million light years from Earth, exploded in a dramatic supernova, marking the end of its life.
Type II supernova explosions occur when a very large star is unable to fuse the atoms within its core, causing it to explode, releasing its outer layers.
The supernova, called SN2021afdx, occurred in the unusually shaped Cartwheel galaxy, located in the constellation Sculptor.
Astronomers captured the image in December 2021 using the European Southern Observatory’s (NTT) New Technology Telescope in Chile.
They then compared the image to one of the same galaxy, which was taken with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in August 2014 – before the supernova explosion occurred.
A new bright light can be seen on the lower left side of the new image, it is not visible in the 2014 image.
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Astronomers have captured the moment a star, 500 million light years from Earth, exploded in a dramatic supernova, marking the end of its life. Image left from 2014 before the explosion, and right from 2021, with the explosion at bottom right
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Light from a stellar explosion can be seen for months or even years after the event, although observed in December 2021, a supernova explosion occurred 500 million years ago – it took that long for light to reach Earth.
It lies within the Cartwheel Galaxy, which was once an ordinary spiral galaxy that underwent direct interaction with a smaller companion galaxy several million years ago, giving it a distinctive appearance.
SN2021afdx is a Type II supernova, which occurs when a massive star reaches the end of its evolution and leaves a black hole or neutron star.
Supernovas are one of the reasons astronomers say we are all made of star dust, because they leave the space around them full of heavy elements. These elements form as young stars, which can later give rise to new generations of stars and planets.
The supernova, called SN2021afdx, occurred in the unusually shaped Cartwheel galaxy, located in the constellation Sculptor.
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Detecting and studying this unexpected event requires international cooperation across various telescopes.
These observations must be made over many years – to detect differences in the night sky – because, even if they are visible for several months, they can be fleeting.
SN2021afdx was first observed in November 2021 by the ATLAS survey.
Atlas is an asteroid impact early warning system developed by the University of Hawaii and funded by NASA.
It consists of four telescopes, two in Hawaii, one in Chile and the fourth in South Africa. Each automatically scans the entire sky several times each night for moving objects. They can be used to find supernovas.
After Atlas discovered the supernova, the European Southern Observatory directed ePESSTO+ at the object, the ESO General Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects, which is designed to study transient events such as supernovae.
They captured not only beautiful images of galaxies, and supernovae – in the lower left corner of the structure – but also their spectrum. Astronomers can use this spectrum to determine if it is a type II supernova.
The Cartwheel galaxy, which is hosting this new supernova event, is a lenticular and ring galaxy – estimated to be around 150,000 light -years in diameter.
It is a major part of the Cartwheel galaxy group, with four spiral galaxies – three companions and the Cartwheel galaxy itself.
