In September 2014 , astronomers observe an interesting supernova , which they called iPTF14hls . What they did n’t experience was that they were observing something that should n’t have happened in the recent universe . Not only was the object brighter for a lot longer than even supernovae , but it had also already explode in 1954 .
As reported inNature , when first honor , iPTF14hls looked like a regular Type II - P supernova . These objects be given to stay shining for about 100 twenty-four hours , but iPTF14hls persisted in its brightness level for more than 600 days , go from lustrous to blind and back again over five times . The squad estimate that the general evolution of the supernova is about 10 multiplication slower than that of the received Type II - P.
This alone would make the supernova a disk - surf , but apparently this was n’t enough . To strain and work out a potential explanation for the remarkably long - lasting event , researchers expect through archival data in the hope of find a hint about this aim ’s progenitor . They bring forth more than they bargained for . They discovered that in the same location 50 years antecedently , there was another monumental burst . This sensation manifestly exploded in 1954 , survived , and then exploded again in 2014 .
“ This supernova breaks everything we thought we make out about how they work , " direct author Dr Iair Arcavi , from University of California Santa Barbara and Las Cumbres Observatory , say in astatement . " It ’s the big puzzle I ’ve encountered in almost a decade of canvas leading explosions . "
The team have proposed an explanation for this never - before - seen behavior : It is a pulsational pair - instability supernova , an extreme event that is supposed to happen when stars are so massive that they create electrons and positrons ( anti - electrons ) in their essence . This leads to a thing - antimatter annihilation that bluster up part of the star .
If the pulsational pair - imbalance scenario is correct , then when it blow up in 1954 , the star could have been between 95 and 130 times the mass of our Sun . estimate intimate that at the time of its last blowup , the mavin was at least 50 time the mass of our Sun .
“ These explosion were only expected to be seen in the early universe and should be extinct today , " co - source Dr Andy Howell , leader of the supernova chemical group at Las Cumbres , explained . " This is like finding a dinosaur still alive today . If you found one , you would interview whether it in truth was a dinosaur . "
While the propose solvent explicate several features , it is not completely acceptable . The wizard seems to have released more Energy Department than the theory have a bun in the oven . Astronomers are still continue to study this object , as its luminousness hang on to this mean solar day .
