Study of Type Ia supernovae expands knowledge of dust formation and its role in the evolution of stars and galaxies An international team of astronomers has discovered a previously unknown source of dust in the universe. This discovery has the potential to fundamentally change our understanding of stardust formation and its materials. Stardust plays an important role in the universe and is the building material of all objects, including Earth and other planets. However, the formation mechanism and composition of this dust remain a mystery to astronomers. Researchers were able to determine the cause of stardust by observing a special type of supernova that interacts with surrounding gas. A supernova is an explosion that occurs during the final stages of some stars’ lives. Of particular interest to researchers are type Ia supernovae that occur in binary star systems. Astronomers studied supernova Ia, called SN2018evt, for three years after it exploded. It is located in a spiral galaxy approximately 300 million light years away. This supernova is one of the most reliable “dust factories.” The study used data from multiple space telescopes, including the Spitzer and NEOWISE missions, as well as ground-based telescopes in different regions of the world. Scientists have so far focused on finding such “dust factories” in Type II supernovae, which form when the core of a massive star collapses. However, new observations show that observing Type Ia supernovae is a promising direction. Professor Hayley Gomez, Head of Physics and Astronomy at Cardiff University and one of the study’s co-authors, said: “This research by international astronomers represents a multi-telescope effort to monitor a rare astronomical phenomenon. “It’s a combination. We have type Ia.” They investigated supernovae, where a very old, dead star explodes with a young companion star. The huge shock wave caused by this explosion generates a new piece of cosmic dust. ” Professor Gomez highlighted that researchers discovered that the amount of dust produced after the explosion of supernova SN2018evt was surprising. Only 1,041 days after this event, the dust mass reached 1% of the Sun’s mass. This provides an explanation for the abundance of dust in some elliptical galaxies. This discovery provides a new perspective for understanding the star formation process and the composition of stardust.

source: https://www.independent.co.uk/space/stardust-star-earth-rocky-planets-b2493505.html