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Scientists have made a new finding of star material that was not previously known.
Cosmic dust, also referred to as star dust, is responsible for the formation of rocky planets such as Earth, and even plays a role in the creation of life.
One of the primary inquiries among researchers is which types of stars produce dust and the process by which this occurs.
A group of international astronomers has discovered a previously undiscovered source of dust in the universe. It is caused by a certain type of supernova interacting with surrounding gas.
The massive blast from the explosion collides with debris expelled from either or both stars, resulting in the formation of a new wave of interstellar dust.
During the end stages of certain stars’ existence, there are massive explosions in space known as supernovae.
The subject of this research is a Type Ia supernova, which takes place in a binary star system.
Based on the research, the impact of the explosion from this supernova collides with matter that was previously expelled by one or both of the stars, resulting in the formation of fresh space dust.
The scientists report that, during the initial three years following its detonation, the supernova – located in a spiral galaxy approximately 300 million light years distant – is among the most abundant producers of cosmic dust ever documented.
Previously, scientists have concentrated their efforts on identifying these “dust factories” in Type II supernovae, which are large stars that explode and collapse at the end of their brief existence.
Haley Gomez, a professor at Cardiff University’s School of Physics and Astronomy and co-author of the study, stated that the research involved the use of various telescopes to observe a unique astronomical phenomenon. This event occurs when an older, deceased star explodes and has a slightly younger and more massive companion star, and the telescopes were able to search both visible and infrared light.
The massive shock wave from the explosion collides with debris scattered by the stars, resulting in the formation of new cosmic dust.
“Despite its infrequency, the quantity of interstellar debris uncovered in the aftermath of this blast surpasses that observed in other celestial occurrences within a similarly brief period.”
A recently published study in Nature Astronomy centers on SN2018evt, a Type Ia supernova.
According to Prof Gomez, our recent research on SN2018evt reveals that a significant amount of cosmic dust, equivalent to 1% of the Sun’s mass, was created only 1,041 days after the explosion.
“This could potentially provide a reasoning for the high amount of dust observed in these peculiar elliptical galaxies.”
Over a period of three years, the scientists observed SN2018evt using a combination of space telescopes such as Nasa’s Spitzer and NEOWISE missions, and ground-based facilities such as the global network of telescopes at Las Cumbre Observatory, as well as those in China, South America, and Australia.
While observing the supernova, the scientists observed a decrease in visible light and an increase in infrared light, indicating the formation of dust.
Source: independent.co.uk
