There were some apprehensions as to how Wolf-Rayet stars die. Now a latest supernova study by telescopic robotic observing system reveals death of massive star happens on the same pattern.
More secrets are out about the supernova death and astronomers have been able to get to the truth about how giant stars like Wolf-Rayet actually die.
Sometimes these giant stars, hundreds of light years away from us, end up in black holes. But most of the time when they die, they do so in style.
"Finding what kind of star exploded, after it already exploded, is, of course, a hard problem, since the explosion destroys much of the information… Some modelers predict that massive Wolf-Rayet stars will collapse into a black hole 'quietly,' without making a luminous supernova" says Avishay Gal-Yam.
Thankfully the astronomers were able to see a massive Wolf-Rayet star explode and create impressive amount of light work. Such findings give astronomers insights about the lives of stars and how these provide our universe with essential ingredients for both planets and life.
Scientists have been sure that these stars too self destruct themselves like supernovas. But they were not able to have a firsthand experience. Wolf-Rayet stars are far bigger and far brighter than Sun. They are as much as 20 times or even bigger than our sun that accounts for around 99 percent of the total mass of the solar system. Wolf–Rayet stars are very hot, with their temperatures in the range of 30,000 K to around 200,000 K. Due to the immense amount of heat that they generate they are also very bright, from tens of thousands to several million times the bolometric luminosity of the Sun, although not exceptionally bright visually since most of their output is in far ultraviolet and even soft X-rays.
Now reports suggest that astronomers had an opportunity to analyze it in detail. Avishay Gal-Yam, a renowned Israeli expert who is associated with Weizmann Institute of Science in Israeli says that they focused on a supernova named SN 2013cu that was some 360 million light-years away from Earth in the Bootes constellation and exploded. They found that the explosion was a Type IIb supernova, meaning it took place after the core of its star ran out of fuel, collapsing into an extraordinarily dense nugget in a fraction of a second and rebounding with a blast outward. Following such explosion stars either turn into black holes or are bereft of almost everything and become a neutron star.
Other astronomers associated with the project are no less excited. Co author of the report Alex Filippenko says, "When I identified the first example of a Type IIb supernova in 1987, I dreamed that someday we would have direct evidence of what kind of star exploded…It's refreshing that we can now say that Wolf-Rayet stars are responsible, at least in some cases." For astronomers this is without doubt a huge development and a moment to cherish. The study is set to be published in today's issue of journal Nature.
Source : http://nvonews.com/supernova-death-secret-revealed-wolf-rayet-dont-die-quietly/
