White Dwarf 'Sibling Rivalry' Explodes into Supernova

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This artistacutes conception shows two white dwarf stars spiraling in toward each other until they collide. A collision like this is believed to have spawned supernova 2006gz. Credit: NASADana Berry Sky Works Digital
This artist's conception shows two white dwarf stars spiraling in toward each other until they collide. A collision like this is believed to have spawned supernova 2006gz. Credit: NASA/Dana Berry, Sky Works Digital

Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) have found that a supernova discovered last year was caused by two colliding white dwarf stars. The white dwarfs were siblings orbiting each other. They slowly spiraled inward until they merged, touching off a titanic explosion. CfA observations show the strongest evidence yet of what was, until now, a purely theoretical mechanism for creating a supernova.


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