National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Colliding Dead Stars Set Off Massive Supernova


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

Two white dwarfs—the cores left behind when stars similar to our sun die—spiral toward each other and trigger a supernova in an artist's conception.

A new study of the unusual supernova 2006gz provides the strongest evidence yet for the theory that merging white dwarfs can trigger stellar explosions.

Images courtesy NASA/Dana Berry, Sky Works Digital