Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Astrophysics

Different stellar demise

A decades-old theory of stellar evolution — that the most massive stars end their life in a peculiar type of explosion termed a pair-instability supernova — finally seems to have been confirmed by observations.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Fate of the most massive stars.

References

  1. Krauss, L. M. Nature 329, 689–694 (1987).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gal-Yam, A. et al. Nature 462, 624–627 (2009).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Heger, A., Fryer, C. L., Woosley, S. E., Langer, N. & Hartmann, D. H. Astrophys. J. 591, 288–300 (2003).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Woosley, S. & Janka, T. Nature Phys. 1, 147–154 (2005).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Fowler, W. A. & Hoyle, F. Astrophys. J. (Suppl.) 9, 201–319 (1964).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Heger, A. & Woosley, S. E. Astrophys. J. 567, 532–543 (2002).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Woosley, S. E., Blinnikov, S. & Heger, A. Nature 450, 390–392 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Bond, J. R., Arnett, W. D. & Carr, B. J. Astrophys. J. 280, 825–847 (1984).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Glatzel, W., El Eid, M. F. & Fricke, K. J. Astron. Astrophys. 149, 413–422 (1985).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. El Eid, M. F. & Langer, N. Astron. Astrophys. 167, 274–281 (1986).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Meynet, G., Maeder, A., Schaller, G., Schaerer, D. & Charbonnel, C. Astron. Astrophys. (Suppl.) 103, 97–105 (1994).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Langer, N. et al. Astron. Astrophys. 290, 819–833 (1994).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Young, D. R. et al. Astron. Astrophys. (in the press); preprint at http://arxiv.org/abs/0910.2248.

  14. Vink, J. S. & de Koter, A. Astron. Astrophys. 442, 587–596 (2005).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Gräfener, G. & Hamann, W.-R. Astron. Astrophys. 482, 945–960 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Langer, N. et al. Astron. Astrophys. 475, L19–L23 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Langer, N. Different stellar demise. Nature 462, 579–580 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/462579a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/462579a

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing