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<\/iframe><br \/><em>Recent studies have hinted that at least some Type Ia supernovae could be best explained by a double explosion. And now astronomers have captured a new image proving this hunch was right! We spoke earlier this week with the scientists who captured this supernova remnant image. Join us live at 12:15 p.m. CDT (17:15 UTC) on Wednesday, July 2, as we explain the science \u2026 in the scientists\u2019 own words. Watch in the player above or on YouTube.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The European Southern Observatory released this news on July 2, 2025. Edits by EarthSky.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time, astronomers have obtained an image of a star that met its end by detonating <em>twice<\/em>. Scientists used the European Southern Observatory\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT) to image the centuries-old remains of supernova SNR 0509-67.5. They announced today (July 2, 2025) that they\u2019ve found patterns confirming its star suffered not one but two explosive blasts. This discovery shows some of the most important explosions in the universe in a new light, the scientists said.<\/p>\n<p>The scientists published their results on July 2, 2025, in the peer-reviewed journal <em>Nature Astronomy<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3>An important variety of supernova<\/h3>\n<p>Most supernovae are the explosive deaths of massive stars. But one important variety comes from an unassuming source. White dwarfs \u2013 the small, inactive cores left over after stars like our sun burn out their nuclear fuel \u2013 can produce what astronomers call a Type Ia supernova. <\/p>\n<p>Priyam Das, a Ph.D. student at the University of New South Wales Canberra, Australia, led the study. He said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The explosions of white dwarfs play a crucial role in astronomy. Much of our knowledge of how the universe expands rests on Type Ia supernovae. And they are also the primary source of iron on our planet, including the iron in our blood. <\/p>\n<p>Yet, despite their importance, the long-standing puzzle of the exact mechanism triggering their explosion remains unsolved.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"This Star Was Destroyed in 2 Explosions\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1pEhsK00o-Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Models of Type 1a supernova blasts<\/h3>\n<p>All models that explain Type Ia supernovae begin with a white dwarf in a pair of stars. If it orbits close enough to the other star in this pair, the dwarf can steal material from its partner. In the most established theory behind Type Ia supernovae, the white dwarf accumulates matter from its companion until it reaches a critical mass, at which point it undergoes a single explosion. <\/p>\n<p>But recent studies have hinted that at least some Type Ia supernovae could be better explained by a double explosion, triggered before the star reached this critical mass.<\/p>\n<p>Now, astronomers have captured a new image that proves their hunch was right: at least some Type Ia supernovae explode through a \u201cdouble-detonation\u201d mechanism instead. In this alternative model, the white dwarf forms a blanket of stolen helium around itself, which can become unstable and ignite. This first explosion generates a shockwave that travels around the white dwarf and inward, triggering a second detonation in the core of the star, ultimately creating the supernova.<\/p>\n<h3>Clear, visual evidence<\/h3>\n<p>Until now, there had been no clear, visual evidence of a white dwarf undergoing a double detonation. Recently, astronomers have predicted that this process would create a distinctive pattern or fingerprint in the supernova\u2019s still-glowing remains, visible long after the initial explosion. Research suggests that remnants of such a supernova would contain two separate shells of calcium. <\/p>\n<p>Astronomers have now found this fingerprint in a supernova\u2019s remains. Ivo Seitenzahl, who led the observations and was at Germany\u2019s Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies when the study was conducted, said these results show:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u2026 a clear indication that white dwarfs can explode well before they reach the famous Chandrasekhar mass limit, and that the \u2018double-detonation\u2019 mechanism does indeed occur in nature. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The team was able to detect these calcium layers (in blue in the image) in the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5 by observing it with the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on ESO\u2019s VLT. This provides strong evidence that a Type Ia supernova can occur before its parent white dwarf reaches a critical mass.<\/p>\n<h3>Why astronomers are excited<\/h3>\n<p>Type Ia supernovae are one key to our understanding of the universe. They behave in very consistent ways, and their predictable brightness \u2013 no matter how far away they are \u2013 helps astronomers to measure distances in space. Using them as a cosmic measuring tape, astronomers discovered the accelerating expansion of the Universe, a discovery that won the 2011 Nobel Prize in physics. Studying how they explode helps us to understand why they have such a predictable brightness.<\/p>\n<p>Das also has another motivation to study these explosions<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>This tangible evidence of a double-detonation not only contributes towards solving a long-standing mystery, but also offers a visual spectacle \u2026 a beautifully layered structure that a supernova creates.<\/p>\n<p>Revealing the inner workings of such a spectacular cosmic explosion is incredibly rewarding.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_514665\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-514665\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-514665\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This image, taken with ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5. A team of astronomers has now detected calcium layers (in blue in the image) in the supernova remnant. The calcium layers provides strong evidence that a Type Ia supernova can explode not once, but twice. A double detonation! Image via ESO.<br \/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Bottom line: For the first time, astronomers have obtained an image of a star that met its end in a double detonation.<\/p>\n<p>Source: Calcium in a supernova remnant shows the fingerprint of a sub-Chandrasekhar mass explosion<\/p>\n<p>Via ESO<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"cp-load-after-post\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n<h4>Deborah Byrd<\/h4>\n<p> View Articles\n <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-tags\">\n<h6 data-udy-fe=\"text_7c58270d\">About the Author:<\/h6>\n<p>Our Editor-in-Chief Deborah Byrd works to keep all the astronomy balls in the air between EarthSky’s website, YouTube page and social media platforms. She’s the primary editor of our popular daily newsletter and a frequent host of EarthSky livestreams. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. “Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers,” she says.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/double-detonation-supernova-remnant-double-detonation-2-explosions\/?rand=772280\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recent studies have hinted that at least some Type Ia supernovae could be best explained by a double explosion. And now astronomers have captured a new image proving this hunch… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":797077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-797076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-sky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=797076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/797077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=797076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=797076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=797076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}