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Astronomers Capture ‘Exceptionally Rare’ Star Explosion for Only the Second Time in 20 Years

Astronomers Capture ‘Exceptionally Rare’ Star Explosion for Only the Second Time in 20 Years

Two side-by-side images show distant, irregularly shaped galaxies with bright, glowing blue cores against a dark space background.

In March, the Einstein Probe, a satellite made by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in partnership with the European Space Agency, detected a very brief flash of "soft X-rays" emitted by a galaxy about 500 million light-years away. Within an hour, ground-based telescopes, including several at National Science Foundation (NSF) NOIRLab facilities, began investigating the region, getting a front-row seat to bombastic and very special star death.

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Tagged with

#star explosion
#astronomers
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#NSF NOIRLab
#satellite
#Einstein Probe
#ground-based telescopes
#Chinese Academy of Sciences
#European Space Agency
#space
#radiation
#astrophysics
#detection
#cosmology