The Supernova That Wasn’t: A Tale of 3 Cosmic Eruptions
Combining images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope over more than 20 years, a team of UA researchers has discovered that Eta Carinae, a very massive star system that has puzzled astronomers since it erupted in a supernova-like event in the mid-19th century, has a past that’s much more violent than they thought. The findings help rewrite the story of how this iconic and mysterious star system came to be and present a critical piece of the puzzle of how very massive stars die. (more…)