Astronomers have discovered a type of stellar nova called a “micronova”.  Although they release a fraction of the energy emitted by supernovas, micronovae can still burn through ten quadrillion tons of stellar mass in a single eruption. “We have discovered and identified for the first time what we are callingread more

In a first for astronomy, a distant supernova has been observed that was previously predicted to appear, has been imaged by a team of astronomers from the University of South Carolina, using the Hubble Space Telescope. The prediction utilized the effect of gravitational lensing, where the gravity of a massive object will bend light from a source behind it around itself, as if it were an optical lens.
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When stars explode they become brilliant supernova for a short time, then they may undergo a sudden gravitational collapse into a neutron star or black hole, Astronomers are trying to catch glimpses of this happening, in case it happens to us in the future (In 2012? NOTE: Subscribers can still listen to this show).
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