Tag: Death

The Flash of a Star’s Death

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The most violent single event in the universe is the death of a massive star, a supernova.  We have seen several different types, though the common element is a massive explosion, taking a star hiding amongst the background into an eruption that outshines it’s entire host galaxy.  We have seen the brightness grow and fade over the duration of a supernova event, but we have never seen one just as it’s starting.  Until now. Would you ever have thought that the Kepler space telescope, a planet hunter that continuously observes stars, could see supernovae?  The key is in the words ‘continuously observed.’  By keeping...

Galaxy Death by Strangulation?

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It has been well established that Galaxies have formed during the last 13.7 Billion years of cosmic evolution.  They didn’t just pop into existence, but developed in a long and arduous process that spans immense time.  Many of them will continue to flourish for many Billions of years.  If Galaxies do indeed have a birth, as has been seen, it stands to reason that they should someday ‘die’ as well.  But have we ever seen the death of a galaxy? Have we ever seen the end for a massive collective structure of stars? We have seen galaxies collide and merge...