Related topics: stars · massive stars · galaxies · white dwarfs · neutron stars

The stunning echo of 800-year-old explosion

In the year 1181 a rare supernova explosion appeared in the night sky, staying visible for 185 consecutive days. Historical records show that the supernova looked like a temporary "star" in the constellation Cassiopeia shining ...

Explaining a supernova's 'string of pearls'

Physicists often turn to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability to explain why fluid structures form in plasmas, but that may not be the full story when it comes to the ring of hydrogen clumps around supernova 1987A, research from ...