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Astronomy

An elementary puzzle

Nature volume 424, pages 628–629 (2003)Cite this article

A type Ia supernova has no hydrogen around it. But hydrogen gas has now been found in the vicinity of a supernova that otherwise fits the type Ia classification. Might this offer clues to the origin of these objects?

Over the past decade or so, type Ia supernovae have served as useful cosmic beacons. Using them, astronomers have measured1,2,3 the value of the Hubble constant (which determines the rate of expansion of the Universe) to an accuracy of 10%, and discovered the existence of 'dark energy'4,5 (which is thought to drive the acceleration of the rate of expansion). Even so, astronomers are uncertain about the origins of these objects — what progenitor system leads to the creation of a type Ia supernova?

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Figure 1: Type Ia, type I½.

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  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma, 440 West Brooks, Norman, 73019-0260, Oklahoma, USA

    Eddie Baron

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  1. Eddie Baron
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Baron, E. An elementary puzzle. Nature 424, 628–629 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/424628a

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/424628a

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