Credit: Max-Planck-Institute für Astrophysik
Astronomers at the Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics in Garching have used computer simulations to confirm that some supernovae are due to the merger of two white dwarfs. White dwarfs are compact remnants of extinguished solar-type stars. As supernovae are used by astronomers to measure cosmic distances and study the expansion history of our Universe, understanding their mechanism is one of the key challenges in astrophysics. This article was published on Nature, 7. January 2010. (read more)
Original publication:
Rüdiger Pakmor, Markus Kromer, Friedrich K. Röpke, Stuart A.Sim, Ashley J. Ruiter, Wolfgang Hillebrandt, "Sub-luminous type Ia supernovae from the mergers of equal-mass white dwarfs with M~0.9 M_solar", Nature, 7. January 2010 (view online, requires subscription)
Links:
Website of the linkPfeil.gifsupernova research group
Computer simulation of two merging white dwarfs ( linkPfeil.gifMPEG4 Format , linkPfeil.gifMPEG1 Format )
