Hubble monitors supernova in nearby galaxy M82
Thursday, February 27, 2014 - 09:01
in Astronomy & Space
Astronomers have taken a Hubble Space Telescope composite image of a supernova explosion designated SN 2014J in the galaxy M82. At a distance of approximately 11.5 million light-years from Earth it is the closest supernova of its type discovered in the past few decades. The explosion is categorized as a Type Ia supernova, which is theorized to be triggered in binary systems consisting of a white dwarf and another star -- which could be a second white dwarf, a star like our sun, or a giant star.