Starship Asterisk*

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In a typical year, there are around 50 novae, nuclear explosions on the surface of white dwarf stars, in our galaxy. Some of these explosions are so bright and powerful, they exceed the scale of scientific explanation.

Employing two powerful telescopes, astronomers at Michigan State University have proven a theory that explains these super-luminous novae and other astronomical explosions. The results, published in the current issue of Nature Astronomy, indicate that powerful shockwaves amplify the explosions beyond any traditional scale for nuclear explosions. ...

As the explosion begins, it ejects a cooler, slower wave of gaseous material, relatively speaking. Behind it, though, is a hot, fast wave speeding right behind it. The collision of the two ejections produces a shockwave, which results in a spectacular explosion of heat and light. ...

The discovery is marked by the researchers’ dogged persistence. When novae happen, there’s a good chance they’re being observed by Ohio State University’s All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae. ASAS-SN is a suite of robotic telescopes in the northern and southern hemispheres. In fact, ASAS-SN discovered this particular nova featured in this study – ASASSN-16ma. ...

• Nature Astronomy (online 04 Sep 2017) DOI: 10.1038/s41550-017-0222-1
  arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1709.00763 > 03 Sep 2017