stellar evolution
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Exploding Supergiant Star Got Surprisingly Busy During Its Final Days
Red supergiant stars are quiet and calm before exploding into Type II supernova — but not this one. The observation is important because it suggests some supergiant stars experience significant internal changes before going supernova
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How Do We Know When the Sun Will Die?
Consider the Sun: hot, massive, and the reason all of this (gestures wildly) is possible. Our local star fuels all life as we know it, providing the energy that sustains everything from the smallest photosynthesizing microorganisms to the largest animals on land and in the seas.
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This Blasted Star Is Getting the Hell Out of the Milky Way
Careening through the Milky Way at nearly 2 million miles per hour, the star LP 40–365 shows no signs of stopping. A team of astronomers recently figured out that the star was propelled into its current speedrun by a supernova explosion millions of years ago.
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Astronomers Think They have Spotted a Rare Kind of Supernova Only Predicted to Exist
A team of astronomers discovered a supernova they believe was formed after the star’s electrons were consumed by other elements in its core. That would make the supernova an electron-capture supernova, a theorised type of stellar explosion first proposed 40 years ago. This may not be the first of these rare explosions documented by humans,…