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Hubble Spots Star Explosion Astronomers Can't Explain

schwit1 writes: The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted the explosion of a star that does not fit into any theory for stellar evolution. "The exploding star, which was seen in the constellation Eridanus, faded over two weeks — much too rapidly to qualify as a supernova. The outburst was also about ten times fainter than most supernovae, explosions that destroy some or all of a star. But it was about 100 times brighter than an ordinary nova, which is a type of surface explosion that leaves a star intact. 'The combination of properties is puzzling,' says Mario Livio, an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. 'I thought about a number of possibilities, but each of them fails' to account for all characteristics of the outburst, he adds." We can put this discovery on the bottom of a very long list of similar discoveries by Hubble, which this week is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its launch.

8 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. Meanwhile........ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    In a galaxy far, far away, Princess Leia turned her head away while Darth Vader took out his anger at the old empire for taking away his hot grits.

  2. I blame the Vogons by AmIAnAi · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just saying, maybe it's not a natural event.

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    1. Re:I blame the Vogons by mwvdlee · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, it WAS a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

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  3. Re: War by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    My first thought was "death star".

    Mine too. And from TFA:

    The light that Hubble recorded from the newly found outburst left its distant home galaxy 7.8 billion years ago.

    So it was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away

  4. It's Praxis of course. by Derling+Whirvish · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's Praxis of course. Time to make a peace treaty?

  5. Re:War by Rob+Riggs · · Score: 4, Funny

    Probably some long-forgotten interstellar war.

    Nothing that exciting. Just a Vogon constructor fleet doing their job. They posted the notice. Nobody could be bothered to read it.

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  6. Re:We may have just found by JMJimmy · · Score: 5, Funny

    A new type of star !

    It was obviously an alien weapon and the government is trying to explain it away.

  7. Re:We may have just found by jfdavis668 · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's from a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Must be the Death Star blowing up Alderaan.