Supernovae: a first-of-its-kind star explosion raises new questions about these momentous events

By Cosimo Inserra, Reader in Astrophysics - Associate Dean of EDI, Cardiff University

Stars often end their lives with a dazzling explosion, creating and releasing material into the universe. This will then seed new life, leading to a cosmic cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

Astronomers around the world have been studying these explosions, called supernovae (derived from the Latin “an extremely bright new star”), and have discovered tens of different types.

In 2021, astronomers observed a bright supernova, dubbed SN2021yfj, two billion light years away. In a recent paper,

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