Important Innovations

Massive Star Explosion Source:  NASA Spectacular Space Event An international team of scientists has discovered the most powerful and brightest supernova ever recorded.  The space event is off the charts.  A supernova is the explosive death of a star.  In this case, scientists theorize it may have been two stars that merged and  then exploded.  The supernova event is unique, extreme and one for the record books. Billions of Light Years Away The event occurred 3.6 billion light years from Earth.  It's named SN2016aps.  According to lead astronomer Matt Nicholl of the University of Birmingham, the team measured the supernova in two ways: total energy of the explosion and the amount of light or radiation emitted. With normal supernovas, the radiation amounts to 1% of the total energy.  In this one, the radiation is an incredible 5 times times the explosion energy. ...

UK Scientists Discover Two Merging Stars Shaped Like a Snowman Source:  Warwick University, UK Unique Shape and Unique Atmosphere Composition Nothing like this new star has ever been discovered in space before.  Warwick University scientists have spotted a huge, snowman-shaped star. It's a new star just born by the merger of two "white dwarf" stars.  They've named the star WDJ0551+4135.  The star's atmosphere is unique and unusually rich in carbon.  Everything about this star has the potential of leading to new scientific discoveries about the universe and the birth and death of stars. Bigger Than the Sun The new Snowman star is more massive than the Sun.  Another unusual aspect of the birth of this star is that the merger of the two "white Dwarf" stars didn't result in an explosion and powerful supernova.  The Warwick University scientists say what is particularly exciting for their research is that the stars merged rather than exploded,...

Evidence of Supernova Explosion in Space Found on South Pole Source: stock image of Antarctica Stardust Discovery by Australian Scientists Researchers from Australian National University have found large amounts of a unique isotope, iron-60, in the snow of Antarctica.  They believe it is "stardust" from the explosion of a supernova in space.  The isotope is not native to the Earth.  They believe it could only have been delivered by a interstellar rock that crashed from space.  For more details on this remarkable discovery, go to Important Innovations Collection: Supernova Found in Antarctic Snow : Stardust Discovered Source:  Stock Image Antarctic Interstellar News Australian scientists have discovered large amounts of stardust ...

Space and Time Gamma-Ray Burst in the Universe Is Time Reversed by Gamma-Rays from Exploding Stars This is intriguing scientific research about space, time, dying stars, black holes and gamma-ray bursts.  Astrophysicists at the College of Charleston in South Carolina have examined 6 of the brightest gamma-ray bursts detected by NASA.  They found time-reversed light signatures.  The gamma-rays seem to reverse time. Supernovas and Black Holes When a dying star - a supernova - collapses into a black hole, it sends out a spectacular burst of gamma-rays. Gamma-rays are the highest energy explosions ever detected.  They shine "a million-trillion" times brighter than the sun. They produce more energy than anything else that emits light. Gamma-Ray to Black Hole Mystery A gamma-ray burst represents the formation of a black hole when a star explodes.  According to the astrophysicists, odd things happen with both space and time in a black hole. The gamma-rays ...