Georgia State's telescope array spotted exploding stars with higher resolution than ever — twice

Caption

The first star captured by the CHARA Array was the Nova V1674 Herculis. Scientists were able to observe gas outflows during the stellar explosion.

Credit: Georgia State University

A team of astronomers captured images of two stars exploding with unprecedented clarity using Georgia State University equipment. Their findings were published this month.

The international study was published in the journal Nature Astronomy. It relies on six telescopes at the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy, or the CHARA Array. Scientists combined light from the array to observe two stellar explosions, known as novae, in real time.

CHARA Director Gail Schaefer said there are limitations to which starts they can observe.

"To catch these nova explosions, you need a combination of something that's actually a very bright explosion, like angularly," she said. "So the nova has to be relatively close to us for it to appear bright enough that we can actually see it with a CHARA array."

Previously, scientists could only infer about the early stages of eruptions.

During this study, astronomers were able to observe differences in two star explosions. CHARA Director Gail Schaefer said the first star explosion evolved very quickly, but the next was a different story.

“The second one that we caught that year, it was a very slowly evolving nova," she said. "For that one, it took about 50 days before, like, the outer layers kind of exploded outward.”

This study will begin to help scientists answer questions about how stars live, die and affect their surroundings.