Unprecedented observations of a nearby supernova in 2020 have given astronomers an extraordinarily detailed look at the explosion of a massive star, including images taken immediately before and after the explosion. The result is a complete picture of the death of a red supergiant star when it runs out of fuel, collapses under its own gravity, and explodes in a core-collapse supernova.
"We used to talk about supernova work like we were crime scene investigators, where we would show up after the fact and try to figure out what happened to that star," explained Ryan Foley, an assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. "This is a different situation, because we really know what's going on and we actually see the death in real time."
Foleys team reported their findings in a paper published October 21 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The supernova, called SN 2020fqv, is in the interacting Butterfly Galaxies, which are located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It was discovered in April 2020 by the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego, California. Astronomers realized that the supernova was simultaneously being observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a NASA satellite designed primarily to discover exoplanets. They quickly trained the Hubble Space Telescope on it as well as a suite of ground-based telescopes, including at UCs Lick Observatory and at the Keck and Gemini Observatories in Hawaii.
Together, these observatories gave a holistic view of a star in the very earliest stage of destruction. Hubble probed the material very close to the star, called circumstellar material, just hours after the explosion. This material was blown off the star in the last year of its life. These observations allowed astronomers to understand what was happening to the star just before it died.
"We rarely get to examine this very close-in circumstellar material since it is only visible for a very short time and we usually don't start observing a supernova until at least a few days after the explosion," explained first author Samaporn Tinyanont, a postdoctoral researcher at UCSC. "For this supernova, we were able make ultra-rapid observations with Hubble, giving unprecedented coverage of the region right next to the star that exploded."
TESS provided an image of the system every 30 minutes starting several days before the explosion through the explosion itself and continuing for several weeks. The team also looked at Hubble observations of the star going back to the 1990s. Hubble was used again starting only hours after astronomers first detected the explosion. And from studying the circumstellar material with Hubble, the scientists gained an understanding of what was happening around the star in the previous decade. By combining all of this information, the team was able to create a multi-decade look at the star's final years.
"Now we have this whole story about what's happening to the star in the years before it died, through the time of death, and then the aftermath of that," said Foley. "This is really the most detailed view of stars like this in their last moments and how they explode."
The Rosetta Stone of Supernovas
Tinyanont and Foley have called SN 2020fqv "the Rosetta Stone of supernovas." The ancient Rosetta Stone, which has the same text inscribed in three different scripts, helped experts learn to read Egyptian hieroglyphs.
In the case of this supernova, the science team used several different methods to determine the mass of the exploding star. These included comparing the properties and the evolution of the supernova with theoretical models; using information from a 1997 archival Hubble image of the star to rule out higher mass stars; and using Keck observations to directly measure the amount of oxygen in the supernova, which probes the mass of the star. The results are all consistent: around 14 to 15 times the mass of the sun. Accurately determining the mass of the star that explodes in a supernova is crucial to understanding how massive stars live and die.
This is the first time we've been able to verify the mass with these three different methods for one supernova, and all of them are consistent, said Tinyanont. Now we can push forward using these different methods and combining them, because there are a lot of other supernovas where we have masses from one method but not another.
The findings also indicate that the star had a complicated history of mass loss a few years before core collapse. In the years before stars explode, they tend to become more active. Some astronomers point to the red supergiant Betelgeuse, which has recently been belching significant amounts of material, and they wonder if this star will soon go supernova. While Foley doubts Betelgeuse will imminently explode, he does think we should take such stellar outbursts seriously.
"This could be a warning system," said Foley. "So if you see a star start to shake around a bit, start acting up, then maybe we should pay more attention and really try to understand what's going on there before it explodes. As we find more and more of these supernovas with this sort of excellent data set, we'll be able to understand better what's happening in the last few years of a star's life."
Foley noted that these unique observations of a supernova were carried out during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the spring of 2020 and required extraordinary efforts and coordination by a large number of people, mostly working from home. Many observatories were shut down for part of the time, but they reopened soon enough to obtain crucial data for the study.
It was fantastic how people worked together to make this happen, Foley said. A lot of people were involved, and it was logistically complicated, but in the end the data we got were amazing.
Read more from the original source:
Astronomers witnessed the spectacular death of a star as it happened - UC Santa Cruz
- Students, teachers craft software to make astronomy accessible to the blind - UChicago News [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- [ 3 May 2017 ] NASA probe finds Saturn ring gap emptier than predicted News - Astronomy Now Online [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Dark matter may be fuzzier than we thought - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- How a hidden population of pulsars may leave the Milky Way aglow - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Local astronomy club offers peek at the heavens - Scranton Times-Tribune [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Astronomers confirm nearby star a good model of our early solar system - Phys.Org [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Pioneering radio astronomer Harold Weaver dies at age 99 - UC Berkeley [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- If we successfully land on Mars, could we live there? - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2017]
- Arizona Technology Council and Arizona Astronomy Consortium ... - Yahoo Finance [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2017]
- Hubble images the distant universe through a cosmic lens - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2017]
- Everybody in the lab gettin' TIPSI: NAU astronomy students build camera to track asteroids - NAU News [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2017]
- Bad Astronomy - : Bad Astronomy [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2017]
- Scientists found a wave of ultra hot gas bigger than the Milky Way - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- Cassini encounters the 'Big Empty' during its first dive - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- Harold F. Weaver, pioneer of radio astronomy at UC Berkeley, dies - mySanAntonio.com [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- How to See Jupiter by Day and its Moons by Night using Mobile Astronomy Apps - Space.com [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- Astronomy Picture of the Day [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2017]
- Final MTSU Star Party of the semester hosted by physics, astronomy departments - Sidelines Online (subscription) [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- Harold F. Weaver, pioneer of radio astronomy at UC Berkeley, dies - SFGate [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- Astronomy - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2017]
- Rosliston Astronomy Group is asking shoppers to vote for them to win Tesco Bags of Help cash - Burton Mail [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- UW astronomy expert brings eclipse lessons - Gillette News Record [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- Comet 67P is making its own oxygen gas - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- Graduating UI senior takes 'roundabout' journey to astronomy - Iowa Now [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2017]
- Merging galaxies wrap their black holes in dusty shrouds ... - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- [ 9 May 2017 ] Surprise! When a brown dwarf is actually a planetary mass object News - Astronomy Now Online [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- The newest big thing in radio astronomy - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- [ 10 May 2017 ] Waves of lava seen in Io's largest volcanic crater News - Astronomy Now Online [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- The wild wild worlds: a guide to the weirdest planets in the Milky Way - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- Australian astronomy one of few winners in new budget | Science ... - Science Magazine [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2017]
- BC-RNS-VATICAN-ASTRONOMY - Colorado Springs Gazette [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- With eclipse coming, library sets up astronomy series - Glens Falls Post-Star [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- Observatories combine to crack open the Crab Nebula - Astronomy Now Online [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- A new hot Neptune may be a massive water world - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- Chandra spots a recoiling black hole - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2017]
- Astronomy club hosts Safe Schools members and mentees at fundraiser - Herald and News [Last Updated On: May 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 14th, 2017]
- Astronomy on Tap just one of the fun Tuesday things to do - Austin American-Statesman [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Citizen scientists are invited to help find supernovae - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Assoc. astronomy professor named new director of Echols Scholars Program - University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Music, astronomy collide at multimedia Bienen performance - The Daily Northwestern [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- What's Going on August 21st | Astronomy.com - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2017]
- Astronomers claim first evidence of PARALLEL UNIVERSE - 'there could be BILLIONS more' - Express.co.uk [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- Could the Closest Extrasolar Planet Be Habitable? Astronomers Plan to Find Out - Universe Today [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- [ 18 May 2017 ] Hubble spots moon around third largest dwarf planet News - Astronomy Now Online [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- See a moving global view of Ceres at opposition - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- Fireworks Galaxy sets off its 10th supernova in a century - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- NASA invites scientists to submit ides for Europa lander - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2017]
- Don't miss Jupiter's moons and Great Red Spot during May - Astronomy Now Online [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2017]
- Researchers find a tiny moon around a large unnamed dwarf planet - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2017]
- [ 19 May 2017 ] Icy ring around Fomalhaut observed in new wavelength News - Astronomy Now Online [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2017]
- The weird star that totally isn't aliens is dimming again | Astronomy ... - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2017]
- Astronomers create the largest map of the universe | Astronomy.com - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2017]
- Astronomy: HoLiCOW! Measuring speed of universe expansion is no easy task - The Columbus Dispatch [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2017]
- Dr. Rangi Mtmua hopes to revive Mori astronomy - Mori Television [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2017]
- Astrofest teaches about astronomy and physics - Universe.byu.edu [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2017]
- Bad Astronomy | Astronomers find a moon for a distant, frigid world ... - Blastr [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2017]
- Merging white dwarfs may create most of our galaxy's antimatter ... - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2017]
- Astronomers know TRAPPIST-1h's orbit - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2017]
- A familiar galaxy with a new surprise: Two supermassive black holes - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2017]
- Astronomers Spot Bright New Object near Cygnus A Galaxy's ... - Sci-News.com [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- Volunteers help astronomers find star that exploded 970 million ... - Phys.Org [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- Rocketing off to (cyber) space - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- Mice born from freeze-dried space sperm are doing OK - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- NASA's mission to a planetary core has been moved up - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- Astronomy: An all-American eclipse : Nature : Nature Research - Nature.com [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- 25 things to bring to the eclipse | Astronomy.com - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- A star turned into a black hole before Hubble's very eyes - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- Astronomy r/Astronomy - reddit.com [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- Astronomy News & Current Events | Sky & Telescope [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- Astronomy (magazine) - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: May 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 26th, 2017]
- [ 27 May 2017 ] Jupiter surprises in first trove of data from NASA's Juno mission News - Astronomy Now Online [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2017]
- Juno results offer tantalizing hints of Jupiter's secrets - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2017]
- Study: Female Astronomers are Cited Less Frequently - The Atlantic - The Atlantic [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2017]
- Astronomy Guide to the rest of the Memorial Day Weekend - AccuWeather.com (blog) [Last Updated On: May 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 28th, 2017]
- The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was hit by a meteoroid and lived - Astronomy Magazine [Last Updated On: May 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 30th, 2017]
- Predicting eclipse crowds: More astrology than astronomy - Bend Bulletin [Last Updated On: May 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 30th, 2017]
- Artist's Stunning New Exhibit Celebrates Harvard's 'Hidden' Female Astronomers - Space.com [Last Updated On: May 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 30th, 2017]
- Astronomy tour to visit several SWI libraries next week - The Daily Nonpareil [Last Updated On: May 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 30th, 2017]
- South Africa participates in international astronomy programme - Creamer Media's Engineering News [Last Updated On: May 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 30th, 2017]
- Space geeks: Astronomy Night on the Mall is Friday and it's free - Washington Post [Last Updated On: May 30th, 2017] [Originally Added On: May 30th, 2017]