Editor's Summary
22 May 2008
Birth of a supernova: X-rays mark the spot
On 9 January 2008, a routine viewing of the galaxy NGC 2770 with the Swift observatory's X-ray telescope struck lucky. An unexpected transient X-ray burst, lasting 3 minutes 40 seconds, was detected in one of the galaxy's spiral arms. Further observations have shown this to have been a first sighting of a new type Ibc supernova, duly named SN2008D. Previously, supernovae of this type, the results of spectacular explosions of short-lived but massive stars, have been discovered mainly as delayed optical light hours after the actual event. But this X-ray burst originated just moments after the explosion, probably representing the 'break-out' of the supernova shock wave from the progenitor star. Its prompt discovery makes SN2008D one of the best-studied normal supernovae to date. And there are important implications for future work, since wide-field X-ray satellite observations should be able to uncover hundreds of new supernovae per year close to the time of explosion.
Authors: Abstractions
doi:10.1038/7194xib
News and Views: Astronomy: Supernova bursts onto the scene
The stellar explosions known as supernovae are spectacular but common cosmic events. A satellite telescope's chance observation of a burst of X-ray light might be the first record of a supernova's earliest minutes.
Roger Chevalier
doi:10.1038/453462a
Article: An extremely luminous X-ray outburst at the birth of a supernova
A. M. Soderberg, E. Berger, K. L. Page, P. Schady, J. Parrent, D. Pooley, X.-Y. Wang, E. O. Ofek, A. Cucchiara, A. Rau, E. Waxman, J. D. Simon, D. C.-J. Bock, P. A. Milne, M. J. Page, J. C. Barentine, S. D. Barthelmy, A. P. Beardmore, M. F. Bietenholz, P. Brown, A. Burrows, D. N. Burrows, G. Byrngelson, S. B. Cenko, P. Chandra, J. R. Cummings, D. B. Fox, A. Gal-Yam, N. Gehrels, S. Immler, M. Kasliwal, A. K. H. Kong, H. A. Krimm, S. R. Kulkarni, T. J. Maccarone, P. Mészáros, E. Nakar, P. T. O'Brien, R. A. Overzier, M. de Pasquale, J. Racusin, N. Rea & D. G. York
doi:10.1038/nature06997
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (755K) | Supplementary information