Radio Waves Unveil Final Decade of a Dying Star’s Life Before Supernova

For the first time, scientists have used radio waves to rewind the final decade of a dying star’s life, uncovering a cosmic 'time machine' hidden in the gas it shed.

Astronomers analyzing Type Ibn supernova SN 2023fyq discovered that radio observations revealed the star’s mass-loss history in unprecedented detail, particularly the violent ejection of helium-rich material in the final five to ten years before its explosive demise.

Raphael Baer-Way said:

"We were able to use radio observations to 'view' the final decade of the star's life before the explosion. It's like a time machine into those last important years, especially the final five when the star was losing mass intensely."

This mass loss appears linked to interactions with a binary companion, which destabilized the star and triggered the rapid expulsion of material. Unlike optical telescopes, radio astronomy captured these signatures because the ejected gas interacted with cosmic rays, producing detectable emissions. Maryam Modjaz noted the significance of this approach:

"Raphael's paper has opened a new window to the Universe for studying these rare, but crucial Supernovae, by revealing that we must point our radio telescopes much earlier than previously assumed to capture their fleeting radio signals."

Eighteen months of data from the Very Large Array radio telescope enabled researchers to map the supernova’s evolution.

The findings suggest radio astronomy could become a standard tool for studying stellar death throes, particularly for rare supernova subtypes like Ibn.

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