[HN Gopher] Double detonation: from Type a Ia supernova explosio...
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       Double detonation: from Type a Ia supernova explosion to its
       supernova remnant
        
       Author : PaulHoule
       Score  : 18 points
       Date   : 2022-05-06 17:12 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (arxiv.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (arxiv.org)
        
       | antognini wrote:
       | A brief summary of the paper for the layperson:
       | 
       | One of the big open questions in astronomy is what causes Type Ia
       | supernovae. We know that it involves a white dwarf exceeding the
       | Chandrasekhar limit, but there are two competing models for how
       | this happens. In one of these models (the "single degenerate
       | model") there is a companion red giant and gas from the red giant
       | is slowly accreted onto the white dwarf until it exceeds the
       | Chandrasekhar mass and explodes. In the other model (the "double
       | degenerate model"), there are two white dwarfs which merge
       | together and then explode. Both models have a number of points of
       | evidence in favor and against them so astronomers haven't worked
       | out yet which of the two models is correct, or at least dominant.
       | [1]
       | 
       | This paper performs a simulation of a Type Ia supernova under the
       | double degenerate model of two white dwarfs merging. They evolve
       | this merger all the way out until the formation of the supernova
       | remnant a few thousand years later and find that the second white
       | dwarf would essentially cast a shadow on the explosion and leave
       | a darkened circle on the remnant which should be visible.
       | 
       | This is a pure simulation paper, though. It doesn't look like
       | they take the next step of going out and looking at Type Ia
       | remnants to see if this feature exists. The main significance
       | from what I can tell (with the caveat that I've been out of the
       | field for about seven years now) is that it's a way to try to
       | distinguish between these two models long after the supernova
       | happened. So far, experimental tests have relied on observing
       | Type Ia supernovae right after they happen, which is tricky
       | because you have to wait around for a while until you happen to
       | catch one nearby.
       | 
       | [1]: I wrote a short blog post about the state of this problem a
       | while back: https://joe-antognini.github.io/astronomy/typeia-
       | progenitors
        
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       (page generated 2022-05-06 23:02 UTC)