Astronomers Discover What Triggered Historic Supernova

摘要

Astronomers have identified what appears to be a cosmic smok-ing gun for a historic supernova explosion, a find that may also help with the search for elusive dark energy in the universe. The new evidence suggests the famed Tycho supernova, located about 13,000 light-years from Earth, formed when its parent star stripped too much material from a nearby companion, forcing it to detonate in a massive thermonu-clear explosion. The find was made using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. A study of the exploded star's remains also suggests that, in gen-eral, stars could survive the in-tense impact generated when their stellar companions undergo a violent supernova death.