Supernovae get along in two main variety , count on if they have hydrogen in their light or not . Exploding stars , then , are either one eccentric or the other . Unless , of grade , you are Supernova SN 2014C.
SN 2014C , located in spiral galaxy NGC 7331 , has been nicknamed the chamaeleon supernova . It was a nice Type I ( no hydrogen ) , but over the course of a twelvemonth it became a Type II ( atomic number 1 ! ) . This seemingly heaven-sent apparition of hydrogen puzzled scientist , but an external team has now found some intriguing clues as to what happened .
According to a paper published in theAstrophysical Journal , the progenitor star spent decades , if not centuries , ejecting atomic number 1 and other element into blank , making the supernova explosion hydrogen poor . But in just over a yr , the exploded material enamor up with the hydrogen scale and the supernova come out to have gone from one character to the other .
" boot out this cloth late in life history is in all likelihood a way that stars give elements , which they farm during their lifetimes , back to their environment , " lead author Raffaella Margutti , supporter prof of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University , say in astatement .
The researchers usedNASA ’s NuSTAR(Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array ) to look at the X - irradiation emission of both the exploded cloth and the exhaust shell . The team estimate that the shell was as massive as the Sun , a whole baffling resolution as heavy wizard are not known for such a goodly emission .
" This ' Chamaeleon supernova ' may represent a newfangled chemical mechanism of how massive virtuoso deliver elements make in their cores to the residual of the world , " supply Margutti .
The stargazer put forward two different scenarios to explain this unique effect . First , the star that became SN 2014C might have had a comrade that avail create the strange circumstances of its death . About 70 percent of massive stars are in binary systems , so this is a compelling solution .
The other possibility is that we do n’t have a complete picture of leading dying . Given that there are only a handful of supernovae per galaxy per 100 , we might indeed have a little universe of peculiar supernova .
