Breakthrough Observation of Dying Star's Inner Structure
Scientists have witnessed the inner workings of a dying star as it exploded for the first time, providing an unprecedented glimpse into stellar evolution. The discovery involves supernova 2021yfj in the Milky Way galaxy, which allowed researchers to observe the star's unjumbled layers. This observation confirms theories about how massive stars end their lives, with lighter elements on the outside and heavier elements near the core. The star's outer hydrogen and helium layers had already peeled away, but its dense inner silicon and sulfur layers were also shed during the explosion. Researchers from Northwestern University and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics were involved, with Steve Schulze noting the unprecedented stripping of layers. The exact mechanism causing this is still unclear, but future research may reveal whether the layers were flung off violently or yanked away by a companion star.