For the first time, astronomers witnessed a star explode in real time
Ground-based telescopes delivered the first real-time view of a red supergiant star’s death throes. While they are neither the brightest nor most massive stars, they are the biggest in terms of volume. An artist’s rendition of a red supergiant star transitioning into a Type II supernova Betelgeuse is a well-known red supergiant star that has gained popularity owing to its erratic fading. While it was projected that Betelgeuse would explode as a supernova, it has remained stable. However, the star at the core of this new study, which is situated roughly 120 million light-years from Earth in the NGC 5731 galaxy, had ten times the mass of the sun when it exploded. An artist’s rendition of a red supergiant star transitioning into a Type II supernova, emitting a violent eruption of radiation and gas on its dying breath before collapsing and exploding. Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko Some stars have explosive eruptions or emit blazing hot layers of gas just befo...