"SUPERNOVA POISED TO GO OFF NEAR EARTH".
Where did the information from the article originate?.
The information was printed on the New Scientist website on the 23rd of May 2002 at 10:30 am. The information originated from the New Scientist Magazine Print Edition.
2. What information does the article present?.
• A scientist accidentally stumbled across a star near Earth that is on the brink of exploding in a supernova.
• The star is called HR 8210.
• HR 8210 is a white dwarf which means it has run out of fuel to burn.
• HR 8210 is also orbiting a companion star which is 1.15 times the mass of our sun.
• The star HR 8210 is just shy of the Chandrasekar limit - the mass at which it would be big enough to go supernova.
• HR 8210 is by far the closest supernova candidate discovered so far.
• When HR 8210's companion star begins to run out of fuel it will expand to form a red giant star. As it does this, its outer layers will be dumped onto HR 8210, pushing it over the Chandrasekar limit.
• Earth is only 150 light years away from HR 8210. This is well short of the 160 to 200 light years thought to be the minimum safe distance from a supernova.
• It will take time for HR 8210 to accumulate the mass it needs to explode as a supernova. Scientists have calculated that this may take hundreds of millions of years.
3. What viewpoint does the article present?.
• The supernova caused by HR 8210 could change the course of life on Earth.
• Evidence from other research shows that this wouldn't be the first time a supernova has affected Earth in some way.
• The discovery of HR 8210 suggests that maybe stars that could blow up as a supernova are not so rare.
• The discovery of HR 8210 has alerted us to dangers that may be outside of our solar system.
• It is an exciting and informative discovery.