3 Types of Systems May Host Type Ia Supernovae (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

3 Types of Systems May Host Type Ia Supernovae

Caption

Three types of systems, illustrated here, may host Type Ia supernovae. The first two panels depict a white dwarf in a binary system accumulating matter transferred from a red supergiant companion many times the sun's mass (left) or similar to the sun (middle). The transferred matter is thought to accumulate on the white dwarf and ultimately cause it to explode. Swift data on dozens of supernovae essentially eliminate the first model. Mounting evidence suggests that some Type Ia supernovae occur when binary white dwarfs (right) merge and collide.

Credit

Credit: NASA/Swift/ Aurore Simonnet, Sonoma State Univ.

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