A rare supernova is the explosion of a star that occurred when the Earth was "ruled" by the monkeys
Alex Doron
The supernova (marked by the arrow) that occurred in the galaxy
very far from us
Israeli astronomers were among the first in the world to notice an exploding star - a dramatic event that took place in a galaxy far, far away from us. Only last month was it possible to notice this - because then the flash of light from that explosion reached us.
The researchers who used the equipment at the Tel Aviv University Observatory in Mitzpe Ramon noted that the event occurred in the galaxy marked NGC628=M74 which is about 30 million light years away from us.
The light from the explosion left the galaxy even before the appearance of the "intelligent man" - Homo sapiens - when only the first monkeys were on Earth. Ground telescopes saw the occurrence on January 29 and more time was required to analyze the findings.
Exploding stars are called "supernovae". The explosion is probably caused by the core of the star collapsing in on itself - and creating a compact body (neutron star or black hole). The shell of the exploded star is thrown into space at a speed of 10-1 percent of the speed of light. The M74 explosion was first observed in Japan and the USA.
The exploding star is labeled SN 2002ap and may be one of the brightest supernovae seen in recent decades.
The first observations of it indicated the presence of a new celestial gram on the image of the galaxy, in the outer part of its spiral arms and the body became brighter with time. Two days after the cosmic event was first seen, the star more than doubled in brightness. The process did not stop.
In order to understand the nature of the exploding star, additional immediate spectroscopic observations will be required, as its light emission changes rapidly. In these observations, the amount of light emitted in different colors (wavelengths) will be analyzed. The team researching and analyzing supernovae at Tel Aviv University, doctoral students Avishai Gal-Yam and Ohad Shemer, prepared for a comprehensive study. They noted that this may be an extremely rare type of supernovae. Only two of them have been observed before. These events are called "hypernova explosions" (end result of the development of a massive star, 40 times the size of the Sun) and are the most energetic known to humanity. Maybe related to the mysterious "gamma radiation bursts".
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~330411277~~~97&SiteName=hayadan
