Scientists have recorded the first moments of a supernova explosion

For the first time ever, astronomers at the Australian National University (ANU), in collaboration with NASA and

An international team of researchers has captured the first moments of a supernova — the death of a star due to an explosion.They did it in detail that could not have been captured before.

ANU Researchers Recorded Initial Surgelight that is observed when the first shock wave passes through the star before it explodes. Patrick Armstrong, who led the study, noted that astronomers are particularly interested in how the brightness of light changes before it explodes. This phenomenon is known as the "shock wave cooling curve" in order to find out which type of star caused the explosion.

"This is the first time that anyone has been able to examine in such detail the complete cooling curve of the shock wave of any supernova," the scientists noted.

At the dawn of the Milky Way's life, hypernovae produced gold and platinum

Scientists noted that since the initial stagesupernova happens so fast, most telescopes have a very difficult time registering it. So far, the available data have been incomplete and have included only a darkening of the shock wave cooling curve and the subsequent explosion, but never a bright flash of light at the very beginning of a supernova.

This discovery will give us the data we need toidentification of other stars that have become supernovae, even after they exploded. ANU researchers tested the new data against several existing star models.

Based on simulations, astronomers determined that the star that caused the supernova was most likely a yellow supergiant that is more than 100 times the size of our Sun.

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