NASA’s Swift satellite has shown two supernova events in quick succession. This is the first time that such an event has been recorded so close in time.
The blasts occurred in a galaxy called MCG +05-43-16, which is located 380 million light-years from Earth in constellation Hercules.
Supernovas are the explosions which mark the death of massive stars. The two recorded explosions were triggered in different ways. The first one named Supernova 2007ck was spotted on May 19 and was a Type II event. This occurs when the star consumes all of its fuel and then collapses under its own weight. The result is a giant shock wave which rips the star apart.
The second explosion was recorded on June 4 and occurred in Supernova 2007 co. This was a Type 1a event which occurs when a white dwarf star draws too much weight from its companion star and then explodes like a thermonuclear bomb.
Both these stars were in the same galaxy yet were separated by a distance of tens of thousands of light years. If there are any alien astronomers in this galaxy then they might record these explosions as happening thousands of years apart.
Usually supernova events in a galaxy occur every 25-100 years in a galaxy, so it is a remarkable thing to view a couple of such events in just sixteen days.
Via: usatoday
