For the first time in history, astronomers have observed a red supergiant experiencing an unusual supernova explosion.
As you know, red supergiants are the largest stars known to astronomers. And their life cycle ends with a supernova explosion of the so-called second type, which leaves behind a neutron star or even a black hole.
Scientists noticed a flash of a star of this class in the sky September 16, 2020. At the same time, the exploded supernova was called SN 2020 tIf. But unlike other supernova births, SN 2020 tIf scientists have been observing for quite a long time. And that's about the fact that they managed to notice the unusual, and will be discussed in the current material.
Observation of a red supergiant and its unusual behavior before a supernova explosion
The red supergiant that riveted the attention of astronomers was located at a distance of 120 million light years in the galaxy NGC 5731 and had a mass equal to 10-12 solar.
Before this observation, scientists believed that stars of this class end their life cycle rather calmly, and analysis of past data did not show any major and abrupt changes preceding the explosion supernova.
However, observations of a future supernova SN 2020 if, carried out by the telescopes of the Hawaiian Keck Observatory, which lasted 130 days, showed that there is at least a special group of red supergiants that undergo deep and serious internal changes before being "reborn" into a black hole or a neutron star.
The star was observed telescopes Pan-STARRS and W. M. Keck. It was they who discovered that the star first experienced a series of powerful flares, a powerful ejection of matter was recorded, and only then a supernova explosion occurred.
As noted R. Margutti (one of the authors of the study and observation), astronomers have never observed a series of such events and such a high activity of a red supergiant before.
Such dramatic changes that occurred before the explosion of the star clearly indicate serious internal changes. Now astronomers and theoretical physicists are faced with the task of understanding exactly what processes took place in the star, and it will also be necessary to correct the modern theory.
Scientists spoke about their observation and future plans in a material published on the portal The Astrophysical Journal.
Well, this event is another confirmation that our Universe is full of the unknown and mysterious.
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