STELLAR THIEF IS THE SURVIVING COMPANION TO A SUPERNOVA

stsci_2018-20c April 26th, 2018

Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Ryder (Australian Astronomical Observatory), and O. Fox (STScI)

In the fading afterglow of a supernova explosion, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have photographed the first image of a surviving companion to a supernova. This is the most compelling evidence that some supernovas originate in double-star systems. The companion to supernova 2001ig's progenitor star was no innocent bystander to the explosion - it siphoned off almost all of the hydrogen from the doomed star's stellar envelope. SN 2001ig is categorized as a Type IIb stripped-envelope supernova, which is a relatively rare type of supernova in which most, but not all, of the hydrogen is gone prior to the explosion. Perhaps as many as half of all stripped-envelope supernovas have companions - the other half lose their outer envelopes via stellar winds.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2018/news-2018-20

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

Image Use Policy: http://hubblesite.org/copyright/