Shedding new light on supernova mystery
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - 13:30
in Astronomy & Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists have a new theory on the mysterious mechanism that causes the explosion of massive, or core, stars. These Type II supernovae, the term given to exploding core stars, are huge and spectacular events intriguing because for a short time they emit as much light as is normally produced by an entire galaxy. In fact, the enormous amount of energy they release is second only to the Big Bang itself. While there is general agreement on how the collapse of a core star begins, how the energy escapes from the star (the process that causes the explosion) is not fully understood. A paper published in Physics Letters B (November 3, 2011) offers a new theoretical explanation.