Explosion of a massive star near the Milky Way galaxy some 30 million years ago was as powerful as the concurrent detonation of 100 million suns, a new study has found.
The star, coined by experts as Supernova 2013ej, was one of the billion stars that originated from the spiral galaxy M74 in the Pisces constellation.
The Explosion
Lead study author Govinda Dhungana from the Southern Methodist University says the abrupt explosion fired material outward from the star at 22.4 million miles per hour (36 million kilometers per hour).
The in-depth investigation of the team about the light curve and color array of the star paves the way for new data about the presence and immediate death of supernovae in general, which have long confused experts.
"There are so many characteristics we can derive from the early data," says Dhungana. She adds that this was a huge star with high amounts of fuel. When it arrived at a point when its core could not hold the gravitational pull inward anymore, it quickly fell apart and exploded.
The said explosion was among the closest one that ever occurred near Earth in the past years. The resulting light from the burst was detected on the skies during the night of July 24, 2013.
The Massive Star
Prior to being a supernova, the star had a radius that was 200 times bigger than the Earth's sun. It was so distant that the hurl took millions of years for it to arrive near Earth. Despite this, the said signal of explosion was only detected via telescopes.
The research team was able to delve more about SN 2013ej through information from seven ground-based telescopes and NASA's Swift satellite. They measured the supernova's temperature, mass, and levels of chemical components, among others.
As per analysis, Dhungana and colleagues found that the star's temperature was about 22,000 degrees Fahrenheit during the tenth day of detonation. It cooled steadily and reached about 7,640 degrees Fahrenheit after 50 days.
For comparison, the surface of the sun is about 9,980 degrees Fahrenheit and the core of the Earth is approximately 10,340 degrees Fahrenheit.
The study was published online in The Astrophysical Journal on April 26.
