pinwheel galaxy – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Unusual Supernova is Doubly Unusual for Being Perfectly Normal

By Guest PostJuly 8, 2013Science2011fe data, berkeley lab, big dipper, expansion of universe, greg aldering, palomar transient factory, pinwheel galaxy, rollin thomas, rui pereira, snfactory, snfactory data, snifs, supernova 2011fe, type ia supernova

From the “Backyard Supernova,” the Berkeley Lab-led Nearby Supernova Factory has built a benchmark atlas for normal Type Ia’s

August, 2011, saw the dazzling appearance of the closest and brightest Type Ia supernova since Type Ia’s were established as “standard candles” for measuring the expansion of the universe. The brilliant visitor, labeled SN 2011fe, was caught by the Palomar Transient Factory less than 12 hours after it exploded in the Pinwheel Galaxy in the Big Dipper.

Easy to see through binoculars, 2011fe was soon dubbed the Backyard Supernova. Major astronomical studies from the ground and from space followed close on its heels, recording its luminosity and colors as it rapidly brightened and then slowly faded away. (more…)

Astronomers Pin Down Origins of “Mile Markers” for Expansion of Universe

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2012Scienceastronomer, ben shappee, brightness, chemical element, dead stars, kris stanek, lbt, mile markers, mods system, mods1, ohio state university, optical telescope, origin, pattern, pinwheel galaxy, rick pogge, supernova 2011fe, supernovae, type ia, white dwarfs, zombies

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A study using a unique new instrument on the world’s largest optical telescope has revealed the likely origins of especially bright supernovae that astronomers use as easy-to-spot “mile markers” to measure the expansion and acceleration of the universe.

In a paper to appear in the Astrophysical Journal, researchers describe observations of recent supernova 2011fe that they captured with the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) using a tool created at Ohio State University: the Multi-Object Double Spectrograph (MODS). (more…)

Closest Type Ia Supernova in Decades Solves a Cosmic Mystery

By Guest PostDecember 21, 2011Scienceberkeley national laboratory (berkeley lab), daniel kasen, guesswork, mansi kasliwal, measure cosmic growth, national energy research scientific computing center, nobel prize, palomar transient factory (ptf), peter nugent, pinwheel galaxy, standard candles, the discovery of dark energy, type Ia supernovae, u.s. department of energy’s lawrence, university of california, white dwarf detonates

*Early close-ups of a Type Ia supernova allow Berkeley Lab scientists and their colleagues to picture its progenitor and infer how it exploded

Type Ia supernovae (SN Ia’s) are the extraordinarily bright and remarkably similar “standard candles” astronomers use to measure cosmic growth, a technique that in 1998 led to the discovery of dark energy – and 13 years later to a Nobel Prize, “for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe.” The light from thousands of SN Ia’s has been studied, but until now their physics – how they detonate and what the star systems that produce them actually look like before they explode – has been educated guesswork. (more…)

Tag Archives: pinwheel galaxy

Unusual Supernova is Doubly Unusual for Being Perfectly Normal

Astronomers Pin Down Origins of “Mile Markers” for Expansion of Universe

Closest Type Ia Supernova in Decades Solves a Cosmic Mystery