[HN Gopher] A supernova star that erupted continuously for about...
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       A supernova star that erupted continuously for about 1,000 days
        
       Author : belter
       Score  : 67 points
       Date   : 2022-10-08 17:58 UTC (4 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (en.wikipedia.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (en.wikipedia.org)
        
       | jwuphysics wrote:
       | This is definitely an interesting object, but based on the recent
       | literature[0] it seems most astronomers attribute the odd
       | signatures to interactions with its circumstellar material. The
       | Wikipedia article focuses a bit too much on the initial Nature
       | paper authored by Arcavi et al...
       | 
       | [0]
       | https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/search/fq=%7B!type%3Daqp%20v%3...
        
       | ncmncm wrote:
       | Binary stars are so common, it surprises me to find so few
       | phenomena that involve companions. It was gratifying to see
       | suggested a neutron star diving through a diffuse neighbor.
       | 
       | There are of course type Ia supernovas. ("Fhtagn!")
        
       | denton-scratch wrote:
       | The article says this is a Type II-P supernova; the wikipedia
       | link says that's a core-collapse supernova, and results in a
       | neutron star. It says the collapse of the core occurs in seconds.
       | I suppose the production of heavy elements and radiation must
       | continue for days or weeks.
       | 
       | If a big star's core collapses to a neutron star in seconds, and
       | the outer parts of the star get blown away due to reaching escape
       | velocity, how does this thing keep blazing for four years? Is it
       | really not a core-collapse supernova?
       | 
       | The article also says:
       | 
       | > Since 1954, the star has exploded six times.
       | 
       | How does that work? The thing can't be a core-collapse supernova;
       | there's only so many times your core can collapse to a neutron
       | star (roughly once).
       | 
       | It sounds from the WP article that what is being seen isn't the
       | supernova explosion (which can surely only occur once), but the
       | impact of a shockwave on a previous shell of exploding stuff.
       | Which makes me suppose it's some kind of type I supernova?
        
         | vikingerik wrote:
         | The most likely hypothesis seems to be that there is a lot of
         | interstellar material around the star, such that the ejecta is
         | colliding with that and keeping it hot to keep glowing. It was
         | a core-collapse supernova initially; the energy released from
         | that is being absorbed and more slowly re-emitted by the thick
         | surrounding material. (Thick in astronomical terms is still
         | something like two hydrogen atoms per cubic meter.)
        
           | denton-scratch wrote:
           | Yeah, that's roughly what I figured (IANAA). But it still
           | seems hard to explain six flashes bright enough to appear
           | like a supernova. I'd expect the flash of any kind of
           | supernova to be brighter than the flash of a shockwave
           | hitting a shell of gas. But I know nothing.
           | 
           | And anyway, for the shockwave from a supernova explosion to
           | hit the shell of expanding gas from a previous explosion,
           | that still seems to imply two supernova explosions from the
           | same star. The only way I know that can happen is in a binary
           | system.
        
             | lazide wrote:
             | Perhaps it's a hybrid? Original core collapse, then
             | accretion of in falling material after the shock from the
             | last explosion dissipates, causing spontaneous
             | fusion/degeneracy again and re-explosion?
        
       | belter wrote:
       | "A Star That Would Not Die" - https://spaceref.com/science-and-
       | exploration/a-star-that-wou...
        
         | rtanks wrote:
         | Interesting
        
           | willmadden wrote:
           | If you want to go down the rabbit hole watch this video from
           | suspicious0bservers.org.
           | 
           | Start at 7:24 to skip the intro.
           | 
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_zfMyzXqfI
        
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       (page generated 2022-10-12 23:01 UTC)