SN 2007bi was an extremely energetic
supernova
A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...
discovered early in 2007 by the international
Nearby Supernova Factory
The Nearby Supernova Factory (SNfactory) is a collaborative experiment led by Greg Aldering, designed to collect data on more Type Ia supernovae than have ever been studied in a single project before, and by studying them, to increase understandin ...
based at the U.S. Department of Energy's
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), commonly referred to as the Berkeley Lab, is a United States Department of Energy National Labs, United States national laboratory that is owned by, and conducts scientific research on behalf of, t ...
. The precursor star is estimated to have had 200 solar masses at the time of its formation and around 100 solar masses in its core when it went supernova. The explosion ejected more than 22 solar masses of silicon and other heavy elements into space during this supernova including more than 6 solar masses of radioactive nickel which caused the expanding gases to glow very brightly for many months.
The supernova has been described as an unambiguous fit for the
pair-instability supernova
A pair-instability supernova is a type of supernova predicted to occur when pair production, the production of free electrons and positrons in the collision between atomic nuclei and energetic gamma rays, temporarily reduces the internal radiatio ...
model.
References
SIMBAD data
Further reading
*
External links
Light curves and spectra on th
Open Supernova Catalog* New Scientist
* Science Daily
* Keck Observatory
"First of its kind superbright supernova"
* Nature
"Full report submitted by scientists to the journal Nature"
* Weizmann Institute
Supernovae
20070406
Virgo (constellation)
{{sky, 13, 19, 20.19, +, 08, 55, 44.3