A unique star survived its own explosion and became even brighter than before

In 2012, a star in a neighboring galaxy reached the end of its life and exploded in a powerful thermonuclear supernova.

Such explosions are known as type la supernovae.the usual end for billions of stars in the Universe. Usually this process leads to the complete destruction of the old star at the center of the explosion. But not in this case.

The explosion did not reach the power and brightness of a typicalsupernova type la. When the dust settled years later, scientists observing the wreckage of the star saw that the old star had not disappeared—it still existed. Now it is even bigger and brighter than before.

Right: Comparison of the star's brightness before and after the explosion. Image credit: MCCULLY ET AL

Somehow the star survived his ownsupernova explosion. Scientists had never seen this before. “The survival of this star is a bit like the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi as a Force Ghost in Star Wars,” explains Andy Howell, an associate professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. — Nature tried to hit her, but she returned and became even more powerful. It's still the same star, but in a different form. She has transcended death."

Astronomers have discovered supernova SN 2012Z for the first time.when its parent star was in the middle of an explosion. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers saw a bright flash of light at the edge of a spiral galaxy about 120 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Eridanus.

As a reminder, Type Ia supernova is a subcategorysupernovae, which in turn are a subcategory of cataclysmic variables. A type Ia supernova occurs as a result of the thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf.

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