The new image gives astronomers a near-infrared look at the stellar explosion called Cassiopeia A, located around 11,000 light years away from Earth
  • TWeaK@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    That was my first thought also - did the supernova shatter a star, or is the supernova literally the result of a star shattering?

    Both could be true, it could be that a star went supernova, then the shockwave shattered a star. I CBA to read into it and I’m hoping someone will reply with the answer.

    • EatYouWell@lemmy.world
      2·
      11 months ago

      I skimmed the article and didn’t see any mention of it affecting a different star, so I’m assuming the latter.

      I feel like if it was a binary system that would have been mentioned fairly early in the article

      • TWeaK@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        I wasn’t even thinking a binary system necessarily, just a star that happened to take the shockwave badly. But I suppose it would make more sense for that to happen the closer the nearby star is.