NOIRLab | CTIO | SOAR | 2020 Aug 05
Calcium-rich supernovae, a unique type of exploding stars, produce up to half of the calcium in the Universe
Astronomers using several telescopes at NOIRLab, including the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope, have obtained critical data on a particular type of exploding star that produces copious amounts of calcium. The calcium produced in this unique type of supernova explosion is the same calcium found in our bones and teeth and these events account for up to half of the calcium found in the Universe.
Thanks to detailed observations using the SOAR Telescope, located on Cerro Pachón in Chile, and a host of telescopes around the world and in space, astronomers have been able to probe the inner workings of a special type of supernova explosion. These particular explosions, from compact stars that lose copious amounts of mass late in their lives, appear to create the element calcium in their last dying gasps — and it is dispersed by the explosion throughout galaxies like the Milky Way. SOAR is a facility of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. ...
The explosive event occurred in the relatively nearby galaxy known as Messier 100 which is a popular target for amateur astronomers and is readily visible through small telescopes. In fact, it was amateur astronomer Joel Shepherd who first spotted the light from the exploding star while stargazing in Seattle on 28 April 2019, and soon thereafter it was designated SN 2019ehk. Messier 100 is a beautiful spiral galaxy similar to our Milky Way and is located some 55 million light-years away towards the constellation of Coma Berenices (Berenice’s Hair) in the northern sky near the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear) which contains the Big Dipper. ...
Calcium-Rich Supernova Examined with X-rays for First Time
Northwestern University | W.M. Keck Observatory | 2020 Aug 05
SN 2019ehk: A Double-Peaked Ca-Rich Transient with Luminous X-Ray Emission
and Shock-Ionized Spectral Features ~ Wynn V. Jacobson-Galán et al
- Astrophysical Journal 898(2):166 (2020 Aug 01) DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab9e66
- arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:2005.01782 > 04 May 2020 (v1), 01 Jul 2020 (v2)