Astronomers Witness Supernova's First Moments [News]
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 12:14
in Astronomy & Space
Astronomers have observed for the first time the thunderclap of x-rays that announces a star has exploded into a supernova. Researchers monitoring spiral galaxy NGC 2770, approximately 88 million light-years away, observed a brief but intense flash of x-rays in early January, followed by a prolonged afterglow of visible and ultraviolet light--the hallmark of a supernova. [More]