New Study Sheds Light on Conditions that Trigger Supernovae Explosions

Light from a supernova explosion in the nearby starburst galaxy Messier 82 is reverberating off a huge dust cloud in interstellar space. The supernova, called SN 2014J, occurred at the upper right of Messier 82, and is marked by an “X.” The supernova was discovered on 21 January 2014. The inset images at the top reveal an expanding shell of light from the stellar explosion sweeping through interstellar space, called a “light echo.” The images were taken over 10 months to nearly two years after the violent event (NASA)

The research, published Nov. 1 in Science, offers a critical understanding of this physical process both in stars and in chemical systems on Earth.

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