Andrew Yee[_1_]
June 14th 07, 05:25 PM
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Swindon, U.K.
Contacts:
Julia Maddock
Press Office
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Tel +1793 442094
Prof. Stephen Smartt
Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Maths and Physics
Queen's University Belfast
Work: 02890 971245
Dr. Andrea Pastorello
Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Maths and Physics
Queen's University Belfast
Work: 02890 97 3509
14 June 2007
Double explosion heralds the death of a very massive star
A unique discovery of two celestial explosions at exactly the same position
in the sky has led astronomers to suggest they have witnessed the death of
one of the most massive stars that can exist.
A global collaboration of astronomers, led by Queen's University Belfast
teamed up with Japanese supernova hunter Koichi Itagaki to report an amazing
new discovery in Nature this week (June 14th). This is the first time such a
double explosion has been observed and challenges our understanding of
star-deaths.
In 2004 Koichi Itagaki discovered an exploding star in the galaxy UGC4904
(78 million light years away in the Lynx constellation), which rapidly faded
from view in the space of 10 days. It was never formally announced to the
community, but then he then found a new much brighter explosion in the same
place only two years later in 2006, which he proposed as new supernova.
Queen's astronomers Prof. Stephen Smartt and Dr. Andrea Pastorello
immediately realised the implications of finding two explosions at the same
position on the sky.
They began observing the 2006 supernova (named SN2006jc) with a wide range
of large telescopes and analysed Itagaki's images to show that the two
explosions were exactly in the same place. The most likely explanation for
the 2004 explosion was probably an outburst of a very massive star like
Eta-Carinae, which was observed to have a similar giant outburst in the
1850s. The 2006 supernova was the final death of the same star.
Dr. Pastorello said "We knew the 2004 explosion could be a giant outburst of
very massive star, and we know that only the most massive stars can produce
this type of outburst. So the 2006 supernova must have been the death of the
same star, possibly a star 50 to 100 times more massive than the Sun. And it
turns out that SN2006jc is a very weird supernova -- unusually rich in the
chemical element helium which supports our idea of a massive star outburst
then death."
Dr. Pastorello used UK telescopes on La Palma (the Liverpool Telescope, and
William Herschel Telescope) in a combined European and Asian effort to
monitor the energetics of SN2006jc. He showed that the exploding star must
have been a Wolf-Rayet star, which are the carbon-oxygen remains of
originally very high mass stars.
Prof Smartt is funded by a prestigious EURYI fellowship to study the birth
and death of stars. He said "The supernova was the explosion of a massive
star that had lost its outer atmosphere, probably in a serious of minor
explosions like the one Koichi found in 2004. The star was so massive it
probably formed a black hole as it collapsed. This is the first time two
explosions of the same star have been found, and it challenges our theories
of the way stars live and die."
Although this is the first time two such explosions have been found to be
coincident, they could be more frequent than currently thought. The future
Pan-STARRS project, a new telescope with the world's largest digital camera
which can survey the whole sky once a week could search for these peculiar
supernovae. Queen's are partners in the Pan-STARRS science team and hope to
use it to understand how the most massive stars in the Universe die.
The Science and Technology Facilities Council funds UK research in astronomy
and access to telescopes such as the William Herschel Telescope.
Notes for Editors:
Suggested Graphics from Hubble Space Telescope,
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1996/23/image/a/format/large_web/
Caption: This is an image of Eta-Carina in our galaxy, taken with the Hubble
Space Telescope. The star that exploded in 2004 and 2006 in the far off
galaxy 2006 was likely a very massive star like Eta-Carina, of up to 100
solar masses, and doomed to death when its core collapsed to a black hole.
Credit: NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and Jon Morse
The Great Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), famous star-forming region of the
southern sky. The image spans about 40 light-years within the larger Carina
Nebula at an estimated distance of 7,500 light-years. The Carina Nebula is
home to young, extremely massive stars, including Eta Carinae|, a star with
well over 100 times the mass of the Sun. Highlighted by diffraction spikes,
Eta is just above and right (east) of the Keyhole. Credit: Brad Moore
Animation and Artist's impressions,
http://www-dapnia.cea.fr/Sap/Actualites/Breves/bobi070531/page_images_gb.shtml
Credit (c) Frederic Durillon|, Courtesy Service d'Astrophysique/CEA
Partner Press Releases
CEA France,
http://www-dapnia.cea.fr/Sap/Actualites/Breves/bobi070531/
INAF Italy,
http://www.inaf.it/ufficio-stampa/comunicati-stampa-del-2007/CS_16_140607
Paper details
Title: A giant outburst two years before the core-collapse of a massive star
Preprint: http://uk.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0703663
About the Liverpool Telescope
The Liverpool Telescope, with a two metre mirror, is a fully robotic
astronomical telescope owned and operated by the Astrophysics Research
Institute of Liverpool John Moores University in north-west England. It is
the most advanced telescope of its kind in the world, operating completely
autonomously, independent of human control. The telescope is a specialist
instrument for the study of time-variable astronomical phenomena.
The telescope was designed and built by Telescope Technologies Limited, a
spin-off company of the University.
About the William Herschel Telescope
The William Herschel Telescope is one of the telescopes of the Isaac Newton
Group (ING). The ING is owned and operated jointly by the Science and
Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom, the Nederlandse
Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) of the Netherlands and the
Instituto de Astrofica de Canarias (IAC) of Spain. The telescopes are
located in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos on La Palma,
Canary Islands which is operated by the Instituto de Astrofica de Canarias
(IAC).
About STFC,
http://www.scitech.ac.uk/About/Introduction.aspx
Swindon, U.K.
Contacts:
Julia Maddock
Press Office
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Tel +1793 442094
Prof. Stephen Smartt
Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Maths and Physics
Queen's University Belfast
Work: 02890 971245
Dr. Andrea Pastorello
Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Maths and Physics
Queen's University Belfast
Work: 02890 97 3509
14 June 2007
Double explosion heralds the death of a very massive star
A unique discovery of two celestial explosions at exactly the same position
in the sky has led astronomers to suggest they have witnessed the death of
one of the most massive stars that can exist.
A global collaboration of astronomers, led by Queen's University Belfast
teamed up with Japanese supernova hunter Koichi Itagaki to report an amazing
new discovery in Nature this week (June 14th). This is the first time such a
double explosion has been observed and challenges our understanding of
star-deaths.
In 2004 Koichi Itagaki discovered an exploding star in the galaxy UGC4904
(78 million light years away in the Lynx constellation), which rapidly faded
from view in the space of 10 days. It was never formally announced to the
community, but then he then found a new much brighter explosion in the same
place only two years later in 2006, which he proposed as new supernova.
Queen's astronomers Prof. Stephen Smartt and Dr. Andrea Pastorello
immediately realised the implications of finding two explosions at the same
position on the sky.
They began observing the 2006 supernova (named SN2006jc) with a wide range
of large telescopes and analysed Itagaki's images to show that the two
explosions were exactly in the same place. The most likely explanation for
the 2004 explosion was probably an outburst of a very massive star like
Eta-Carinae, which was observed to have a similar giant outburst in the
1850s. The 2006 supernova was the final death of the same star.
Dr. Pastorello said "We knew the 2004 explosion could be a giant outburst of
very massive star, and we know that only the most massive stars can produce
this type of outburst. So the 2006 supernova must have been the death of the
same star, possibly a star 50 to 100 times more massive than the Sun. And it
turns out that SN2006jc is a very weird supernova -- unusually rich in the
chemical element helium which supports our idea of a massive star outburst
then death."
Dr. Pastorello used UK telescopes on La Palma (the Liverpool Telescope, and
William Herschel Telescope) in a combined European and Asian effort to
monitor the energetics of SN2006jc. He showed that the exploding star must
have been a Wolf-Rayet star, which are the carbon-oxygen remains of
originally very high mass stars.
Prof Smartt is funded by a prestigious EURYI fellowship to study the birth
and death of stars. He said "The supernova was the explosion of a massive
star that had lost its outer atmosphere, probably in a serious of minor
explosions like the one Koichi found in 2004. The star was so massive it
probably formed a black hole as it collapsed. This is the first time two
explosions of the same star have been found, and it challenges our theories
of the way stars live and die."
Although this is the first time two such explosions have been found to be
coincident, they could be more frequent than currently thought. The future
Pan-STARRS project, a new telescope with the world's largest digital camera
which can survey the whole sky once a week could search for these peculiar
supernovae. Queen's are partners in the Pan-STARRS science team and hope to
use it to understand how the most massive stars in the Universe die.
The Science and Technology Facilities Council funds UK research in astronomy
and access to telescopes such as the William Herschel Telescope.
Notes for Editors:
Suggested Graphics from Hubble Space Telescope,
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1996/23/image/a/format/large_web/
Caption: This is an image of Eta-Carina in our galaxy, taken with the Hubble
Space Telescope. The star that exploded in 2004 and 2006 in the far off
galaxy 2006 was likely a very massive star like Eta-Carina, of up to 100
solar masses, and doomed to death when its core collapsed to a black hole.
Credit: NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and Jon Morse
The Great Carina Nebula (NGC 3372), famous star-forming region of the
southern sky. The image spans about 40 light-years within the larger Carina
Nebula at an estimated distance of 7,500 light-years. The Carina Nebula is
home to young, extremely massive stars, including Eta Carinae|, a star with
well over 100 times the mass of the Sun. Highlighted by diffraction spikes,
Eta is just above and right (east) of the Keyhole. Credit: Brad Moore
Animation and Artist's impressions,
http://www-dapnia.cea.fr/Sap/Actualites/Breves/bobi070531/page_images_gb.shtml
Credit (c) Frederic Durillon|, Courtesy Service d'Astrophysique/CEA
Partner Press Releases
CEA France,
http://www-dapnia.cea.fr/Sap/Actualites/Breves/bobi070531/
INAF Italy,
http://www.inaf.it/ufficio-stampa/comunicati-stampa-del-2007/CS_16_140607
Paper details
Title: A giant outburst two years before the core-collapse of a massive star
Preprint: http://uk.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0703663
About the Liverpool Telescope
The Liverpool Telescope, with a two metre mirror, is a fully robotic
astronomical telescope owned and operated by the Astrophysics Research
Institute of Liverpool John Moores University in north-west England. It is
the most advanced telescope of its kind in the world, operating completely
autonomously, independent of human control. The telescope is a specialist
instrument for the study of time-variable astronomical phenomena.
The telescope was designed and built by Telescope Technologies Limited, a
spin-off company of the University.
About the William Herschel Telescope
The William Herschel Telescope is one of the telescopes of the Isaac Newton
Group (ING). The ING is owned and operated jointly by the Science and
Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom, the Nederlandse
Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) of the Netherlands and the
Instituto de Astrofica de Canarias (IAC) of Spain. The telescopes are
located in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos on La Palma,
Canary Islands which is operated by the Instituto de Astrofica de Canarias
(IAC).
About STFC,
http://www.scitech.ac.uk/About/Introduction.aspx