Scientists spot a cosmic vampire


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Luckily, we had telescopes in place to spot it.


From Earth, the explosion shone a brilliant blue, an indication the supernova reached billions of degrees in temperature.


“It is,” said Dr Brad Tucker, “a very, very massive event”.


Dr Tucker, an astronomer at the Australian National University, was part of a team of 130 international scientists who have spent months studying data and images from the star’s explosion, captured by telescopes around the world.


Supernovas, among the most powerful explosions in the galaxy, are exceedingly rare. Astronomers knew they could be caused when two white dwarfs – ancient superheavy stars that have run out of fuel and been compressed by gravity to about the size of our planet – slammed into each other.


Article source: http://smh.com.au/nsw/young-teen-received-more-than-600-emails-from-34yearold-posing-as-15yearold-20171013-gz0kx0.html

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