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Exploding star's shockwave captured for the first time
Analysing data from NASA\'s planet-hunter, the Kepler space telescope, astronomers have captured for the first time a brilliant flash of an exploding star’s shockwave or “shock breakout” in the optical wavelength or visible light.
Washington: Analysing data from NASA's planet-hunter, the Kepler space telescope, astronomers have captured for the first time a brilliant flash of an exploding star’s shockwave or “shock breakout” in the optical wavelength or visible light.
The team led by Peter Garnavich, astrophysics professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, analysed light captured by Kepler every 30 minutes over a three-year period from 500 distant galaxies, searching some 50 trillion stars. They were hunting for signs of massive stellar death explosions known as supernovae.
For the first time, a supernova shockwave has been observed in the optical wavelength or visible light as it reaches the surface of the star. This early flash of light is called a “shock breakout”.
The explosive death of this star, called KSN 2011d, as it reaches its maximum brightness takes 14 days. The shock breakout itself lasts only about 20 minutes, so catching the flash of energy is an investigative milestone for astronomers.
