Unravel the end of the star.
Several telescope captured the supernova explosion that illuminated the darkness of the universe, 60 million light years away.It seems to be the first time in history to record the dying stars so far, and in real time.
Too sudden death of stars
The name given to the supernova explosion is "SN 2020FQV".It was known to scientists for a long time that it was on the verge of explosion, but in April 2020 it exploded without any warning.
I happened to see it from the earth, "Zwicky Transient Facility), an optical observation device in San Diego, California.bottom.Don't miss this valuable opportunity!Other astronomical platforms were also joined one after another, and eventually several telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope, saw the end of SN 2020FQV from the ground and space.
This is the first time that we were able to observe, exploding, and after the supernova explosion from a number of independent perspectives.The images and data, which have been captured from the early stage, are important in deepening the understanding of the supernova explosion process, and will also be useful for predicting when the supernova explosion will occur.is.
Live observation of dying like
It seems that it is not easy to see the death of a star and guess the cause of the death.If a astronomer is comparable to a criminal site investigator,
Assistant Professor Ryan Foley at the University of California, Santa Cruz, a chief researcher, explained in a press release.
SN 2020FQV is 60 million light years away from Earth, so the supernova explosion actually happened 60 million years ago.So it's not a real -time "real -time", but I understand that the assistant professor Foley is saying.
SN 2020FQV is located in the NGC 4567 and NGC 4568, two galaxies that combine the butterfly wings in the direction of the Virgo.It seems that these galaxies are in fusion and will eventually become one.
Space telescope is also a big success
Following the ZTF and Tess, the Hubble Space Telescope began to observe the stars surrounding SN 2020FQV only a few hours after the explosion began.Since then, it has been clearly recorded that this star perimeter is gradually fading through 2020, and has given a new knowledge about changes after the supernova explosion.
Samaporn Tinyanont, a researcher of Posdoc, the author of the papers, explained the excitement.The paper will be published in the British academic magazine "Monthly Notice of the Royal Astronomical Society".
Predict the death of a star
It has long been known that the stars will be active just before they die.For example, Betelgeus, which is expected to cause a supernova explosion within 1 million years in the next 1 million years.However, it was often unknown in advance when it would explode exactly, and the sign was not clear.
In this observation, TESS was shooting SN 2020FQV every 30 minutes from a few days before the explosion to a few weeks after the explosion.The Hubble Space Telescope was already in operation a few hours after the supernova explosion began.In addition, past materials dating back to 1990 have been analyzed, and the SN 2020FQV, which dies for decades, has become clear.
So what did you know from this large amount of data?
One is that the mass of the stars can be calculated more accurately using multiple astronomical methods.According to the explosion, the mass of SN 2020FQV was about 14 to 15 times the sun.By grasping more accurate masses, the physical condition of the stars when the supernova explosion has been exploded has become more clear.
Furthermore, the press release described that this observation could be a "supernova explosion Rosetta stone".An ancient Egyptian stone monument with three types of texts with the same text as Rosetta Stone.It is an parable with the expectation that will be a clue to unravel the mystery and hidden hints that could not be deciphered before.
And Assistant Professor Foley is talking.
