Massive star goes supernova, smothered by its own dust
October 13th, 2010 - 5:27 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Oct 13 (ANI): Astronomers using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered that a giant star in a remote galaxy ended its life with a dust-shrouded whimper instead of the more typical bang.
Researchers suspect that this odd event — the first one of its kind ever viewed by astronomers - was more common early in the universe.
It also hints at what we would see if the brightest star system in our Milky Way galaxy exploded, or went supernova.
The lead author is Christopher Kochanek, a professor of astronomy at Ohio State University, Columbus
The discovery is reported in a paper published online in the Astrophysical Journal.
The study has been published online in the Astrophysical Journal. (ANI)
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Tags: astronomers, astronomy, astrophysical journal, brightest star system, discovery, giant star, massive star, milky way galaxy, nasa, odd event, ohio state university, spitzer space telescope, universe, whimper