Hubble discovers supernovae of exiled stars in deep space
A series of high-resolution images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope confirm that three supernovae discovered several years ago have exploded in an isolated part of intergalactic regions of space.
The supernovae were recorded far from their parent galaxies and about one billion light years away from the planet Earth.
Most supernovae are found inside galaxies containing hundreds of billions of stars, but these lonely supernovae were found between galaxies in three large clusters of several thousand galaxies each.
The explosions, known as Type 1a supernovae, happen in binary star systems where transfer of materials from one star overloads the other, leading to explosions.
Such events are, however, rare in the intergalactic regions of space, since there are not many stars nearby.
“Since there are far fewer stars in globular clusters, only a small fraction of the supernovae are expected to occur in globular clusters. This might be the first confirmed case, and may indicate that the fraction of stars that explode as supernovae is higher in either low-mass galaxies or globular clusters,” said leader of the study, Melissa Graham of the University of California, Berkeley.
The team also found a fourth exploding star, which appears to be inside a small galaxy or a globular cluster. In case of the latter, it would be the first time to see a supernova within such globular cluster.
These supernovae can help scientists understand the contents of the vast and mysterious empty spaces between two galaxies. They can also assist astronomers to find out more about the formations of galaxy clusters and the way they have evolved since the beginning of the universe.
Supernovae happen when stars die and explode, radiating as much energy as the Sun or any ordinary star is expected to emit over its entire life span.
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