Contact: Steve Koppes
skoppes@uchicago.edu
773-702-8366
University of Chicago

Failure to Detonate

Caption: A collaboration led by George Jordan at the University of Chicago's Flash Center for Computational Science has conclusively demonstrated a connection between white dwarf stars that fail to completely detonate and a class of oddly dim supernovae. This image, based on supercomputer simulations, shows the asymmetric surface characteristics of a white dwarf that fails to detonate.

Credit: Courtesy of Brad Gallagher, George Jordan/Flash Center for Computational Science

Usage Restrictions: News organizations may use this image in connection with reports on the University of Chicago's Flash Center for Computational Science.

Related news release: Failed explosions explain most peculiar supernovae