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Credit & Copyright: Ben Godson
(University of Warwick)
Explanation:
A long time ago in a galaxy 50 million light-years away,
a star exploded.
Light from that
supernova was first detected
by telescopes on planet Earth on July 14th though, and the
extragalactic transient is now known to astronomers as
supernova 2025rbs.
Presently the brightest
supernova in planet Earth's sky, 2025rbs
is a Type Ia supernova,
likely caused by the thermonuclear detonation of a white dwarf star
that accreted material from a companion in a binary star system.
Type Ia supernovae are
used as standard candles to establish the distance scale of the universe.
The host galaxy of 2025rbs is NGC 7331.
Itself a bright spiral galaxy in the northern constellation Pegasus,
NGC 7331 is often
touted as an analog to our own Milky Way.
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Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day