SN 2007bi was an extremely energetic
supernova
A supernova (: supernovae or supernovas) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion ...
discovered early in 2007 by the international
Nearby Supernova Factory based at the U.S. Department of Energy's
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The precursor star is estimated to have had 200 solar masses at the time of its formation and around 100 solar masses in its core when it went supernova. The explosion ejected more than 22 solar masses of
silicon and other heavy elements into space during this supernova including more than 6 solar masses of radioactive
nickel which caused the expanding gases to glow very brightly for many months.
The supernova has been described as an unambiguous fit for the
pair-instability supernova model.
References
SIMBAD data
Further reading
*
External links
Light curves and spectra on th
Open Supernova Catalog
* New Scientist
* Science Daily
* Keck Observatory
"First of its kind superbright supernova"
* Nature
"Full report submitted by scientists to the journal Nature"
* Weizmann Institute
Supernovae
20070406
Virgo (constellation)
{{var-star-stub