A red supergiant star exploded just 130 days after astronomers detected its final activity.
Key Takeaways
- Astronomers imaged a red supergiant star for 130 days before it exploded into a supernova.
- This is the first direct observation of a red supergiant’s pre-supernova activity.
- Dense circumstellar material surrounding the star indicated it underwent violent eruptions before collapsing.
- The discovery sheds light on how massive stars evolve in their final moments.
- Future telescopes may detect similar luminous signals to predict imminent supernovas.
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Capturing the Final Moments of a Red Supergiant
For the first time, astronomers have observed the last days of a red supergiant star before it exploded into a massive supernova. Using the Keck Observatory’s Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) in Hawaii, scientists imaged the star over 130 days before its detonation in the autumn of 2020. This breakthrough, detailed in The Astrophysical Journal, provides unprecedented insights into the final stages of a massive star’s life.
The research team noticed dense circumstellar material around the star, likely created by tumultuous gas ejections just before the star’s collapse. The activity was first detected in the summer of 2020 when the star emitted a bright blast of radiation. Lead researcher Dr. Wynn Jacobson-Galán noted that this marks the first direct detection of such violent pre-supernova behavior in an ordinary Type II supernova, a phenomenon previously unseen in red supergiants.
New Understanding of Stellar Evolution
Red supergiants, known for their immense size and cooler surface temperatures, are stars in the late stages of life, fusing heavier elements in their cores until they reach iron, which triggers their collapse and explosion. Previously, these stars were not thought to undergo significant eruptions before exploding. However, this discovery reveals that red supergiants may experience dramatic internal changes, leading to gas ejections shortly before their deaths.
This finding has implications for future supernova detection. By observing luminous radiation bursts, telescopes could identify stars on the verge of collapse, offering opportunities to study them in detail. Dr. Jacobson-Galán emphasized the importance of this discovery for uniting observational data and theoretical models of stellar evolution, potentially reshaping how scientists understand the last months of massive stars’ lives.
