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News Release 09-217

Unusual Explosion Sparks New Insight Into the Life of Stars

Researchers' discovery is described in the journal Science Express

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An artist's impression of a star system that may explode as a Type .Ia supernova is shown here.

Shown here is an artist's impression of a star system, where helium flows from one star, a helium white dwarf (upper right), onto another, piling up in an accretion disk around a small, dense primary star. Helium from the disk eventually falls onto the star, forming a shell that may end up exploding as a Type .Ia (point one A) supernova.

Credit: Tony Piro (2005)


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