The new image gives astronomers a near-infrared look at the stellar explosion called Cassiopeia A, located around 11,000 light years away from Earth
  • @EatYouWell
    10•1 year ago

    Isn’t that kinda the definition of a supernova?

    • TWeaKEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      That was my first thought also - did the supernova shatter a star, or is the supernova literally the result of a star shattering?

      Both could be true, it could be that a star went supernova, then the shockwave shattered a star. I CBA to read into it and I’m hoping someone will reply with the answer.

      • @EatYouWell
        3•1 year ago

        I skimmed the article and didn’t see any mention of it affecting a different star, so I’m assuming the latter.

        I feel like if it was a binary system that would have been mentioned fairly early in the article

        • TWeaKEnglish
          1•1 year ago

          I wasn’t even thinking a binary system necessarily, just a star that happened to take the shockwave badly. But I suppose it would make more sense for that to happen the closer the nearby star is.

  • @NAXLAB
    3•1 year ago

    It’s interesting the types of phrasing they use, like shatter. I never think of stars as rigid, more ethereal even though I know how they work