Type Ia supernova
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- Visualizations by:
- Walt Feimer
- View full credits
A binary star system in which a white dwarf accretes matter from a normal companion star can be a ticking bomb. In this animation, we see such a system from a distance. The white dwarf packs more mass than our sun's into a volume about the size of Earth. Matter streaming from the red star accumulates on the white dwarf until the dwarf explodes. With its partner destroyed, the normal star careens into space. This scenario results in what astronomers refer to as a Type Ia supernova. Because they explode with similar brightness and can be seen across the universe, Type Ia supernovae provide astronomers with information about the distant cosmos.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
Walt Feimer, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
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Animator
- Walt Feimer (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Related Pages
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ID: 11459 Produced Video
NASA's Swift Images SN 2014J in M82
Read moreAn exceptionally close stellar explosion discovered on Jan. 21 has become the focus of observatories around and above the globe, including several NASA spacecraft. The blast, designated SN 2014J, occurred in the galaxy M82 and lies only about 12 million light-years away. This makes it the nearest optical supernova in two decades and potentially the closest type Ia supernova to occur during the life of currently operating space missions. As befits its moniker, Swift was the first to take a look. On Jan. 22, just a day after the explosion was discovered, Swift's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) captured the supernova and its host galaxy.A type Ia supernova represents the total destruction of a white dwarf star by one of two possible scenarios. In one, the white dwarf orbits a normal star, pulls a stream of matter from it, and gains mass until it reaches a critical threshold and explodes. In the other, the blast arises when two white dwarfs in a binary system eventually spiral inward and collide. Either way, the explosion produces a superheated shell of plasma that expands outward into space at tens of millions of miles an hour. Short-lived radioactive elements formed during the blast keep the shell hot as it expands. The interplay between the shell's size, transparency and radioactive heating determines when the supernova reaches peak brightness. Astronomers expect SN 2014J to continue brightening into the first week of February, by which time it may be visible in binoculars.M82, also known as the Cigar Galaxy, is located in the constellation Ursa Major and is a popular target for small telescopes. M82 is undergoing a powerful episode of star formation that makes it many times brighter than our own Milky Way galaxy and accounts for its unusual and photogenic appearance. ||
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